Browns: Stock up/stock down after Week 17 victory
Stock up No. 1: Deshaun Watson and the Browns passing game
It was the great philosopher and future supervillain Harvey Dent that once said, ‘it is always darkest before the dawn’. The fictional District Attorney could not have been more correct when it came to the Browns passing game on Sunday against the Commanders.
Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland passing offense couldn’t have looked more broken than it did during the first half against Washington. Watson finished the first half with three completions on nine attempts for a whopping 23 yards. He was also sacked three times in the first half. Abysmal.
If you had to pick one play to summarize the first-half aerial attack against Washington, it would undoubtedly be the last play of a three-and-out on their lone full possession of the second quarter. It was third-and-eight, and Watson was in shotgun.
The left side of the line mishandled a d-line stunt creating immediate pressure. Watson inexplicably eludes the pressure, in Flutie-like fashion, not once but twice, only to pass it to his right tackle Jack Conklin. Wisely, Conklin wanted no part of the pass and for good reason, being that it was illegal. The Browns were flagged and promptly punted the ball away.
But then in the second half…it clicked. The moment that Cleveland fans, as well as the coaches and players, had been waiting on finally arrived. On their first possession of the second half, Watson hit Amari Cooper on a basic out route, and Cooper did the rest. Cooper shook out of a would-be Kendall Fuller tackle and took the ball 46 yards to the house.
And just like a shooter in basketball that finally sees a ball go in, everything got just a little easier. Passes were being delivered accurately and on time, and receivers were making plays on the football. Watson finished the second half by completing six of his nine attempts for 146 yards and three touchdowns.
The three touchdown passes came on three consecutive drives, and in situations where the Browns had to have it. It was the kind of offensive efficiency that was envisioned when Cleveland moved heaven and earth to obtain Watson’s services.
If the Browns can keep that momentum going next week in their season finale with Pittsburgh, fans and analysts will look back on the team’s second-half performance in Washington as the team’s watershed moment.
