The Cleveland Brown's offensive struggles continue to be the story of the 2024 season. Once again, the Browns failed to score over 20 points in a game and relied heavily on the defense to keep the game close; until it wasn't. On the final drive of the first half, Browns starting quarterback Deshaun Watson went down on a non-contact play with an Achilles tear. The fans ultimately made the moment worse by booing Watson while he was on the ground and cheering as he was taken away on the cart.
Watson was replaced by second-year QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who earned a surprise promotion over the off-season acquisition of Jameis Winston. On that same drive, hometown hero Nick Chubb spun into the endzone for the first time in over 14 months. Nevertheless, Thompson-Robinson was injured late in the fourth quarter and the Browns finally turned to Winston. Having seen all three QBs, we can rate the offense based on which QB performed the best within Heach Coach Kevin Stefanski's system and Stefanski himself.
1. Brown offense under Deshaun Watson
Prior to his injury, Watson seemed to be playing the best football of 2024 we had seen. He was 15 of 17 for 128 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions, and was well on pace to throw for his highest mark of the year. When Watson went down, the Browns had driven the ball downfield and looked poised to score their first points of the game.
The problem was not Watson, not entirely at least. Receivers were dropping the ball. and the offensive line continues to kill momentum building plays with costly penalties. Much like the entirety of the season, Watson looked uncomfortable and rushed out of a clean pocket too soon. Much of this could be contributed to the changes made by Stefanski in the offseason, which was supposed to open up Watson's potential, but seems to have destroyed his confidence.
One of Watsons biggest issues has been, and was again on Sunday, the fact that he continues to check the ball down to a running back or tight-end with a man open down the field. Playing on the confidence part, it seems as if he's been more concerned with turning the ball over than taking shots down the field and letting the playmakers make the big play.
Offense under Watson: C
2. Dorian Thompson-Robinson
Most fans were probably shocked when the announcers pitched the story of Thompson-Robinson prior to Watsons' injury. As they explained, Thompson-Robinson was approached by offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey on Friday telling him to be ready just in case, which many at the time assumed would be a potential Watson benching. As mentioned previously, during the final drive of the first half, Watson went down with a leg injury, and Thompson-Robinson was called to step into the game.
Initially, I was excited because Thompson-Robinson did on the first play what Watson failed to do the entire season - he took a shot in the endzone. Cedrick Tillman was lined up outside, and he dropped back and tried to place the ball on the receivers opposite side so only he could catch it. Thompson-Robinson's first interception was not entirely his fault, if his at all. He threw the ball into a heavily trafficked area of the field; the ball hit off the receivers hands and dropped right into the hands of a Cincinnati Bengals defender.
Turnovers make the game extremely difficult when you're relying on your defense to shut out the opposing offense. Thompson-Robinson's second interception was overthrown, and likely an attempt to force the ball to create something, anything on offense. Unlike Watson, Thompson-Robinson showed glimpses of the potential that the Browns front office seen when they drafted him, especially during designed QB runs.
Offense under Thompson-Robinson: F
3. Jameis Winston
Whatever the reason was for Thompson-Robinson's promotion matters little now. It was likely one of two reasons: either the Browns knew that the Watson experiment was failing, and wanted to evaluate Thompson-Robinson prior to the 2025 NFL draft to determine the route they would proceed. Or, the Browns were fully committed to Watson and actively shopping Winston in a trade to end the "sit Watson, start Winston" debacle.
Either way, in the final minutes of Sundays game, Browns fans got what they wanted whenThompson-Robinson went down with a hand injury, and Winston came into the game. He immediately disproved the analysts that claimed Watson must be starting because Winston is so bad, and also his own Coaches claim that Watson gave the Browns the best chance to win.
Winston was immediately effective in the pass game; whether that be because of the Bengals defense or not, Winston made throws in the final minutes of the game that Watson would not have attempted (TD to David Njoku). Winston marched the Browns down the field, and gave them an opportunity to kick an onside kick in the final two minutes of the game for a chance to steal the victory. While the onside kick was unsuccessful, the Browns offense under Winston was the most fluid, and most successful I have seen the entire season and reminded me much of 2023 with Joe Flacco.
The starter for Week 8 against the Ravens is expected to be Winston, with it being reported by FOX Sports NFL insider Jordan Schultz that Winston will be suiting up as QB1 and with Thompson-Robinson acting as backup if healthy enough by then. The team also just signed Bailey Zappe off of Kansas City's practice squad, so look to him to potentially act as backup if Thompson-Robinson's finger injury keeps him from suiting up.
Offense under Jameis Winston: B+
4. Kevin Stefanski
Twice now, Stefanski has thrown Thompson-Robinson to the wolves with little notice. Last year, when the Browns played the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4, he got the start after Watson had taken all the reps for the week. The result? A 28-3 loss. This past weekend, Thompson-Robinson was elevated the day of the game and forced into action after both Watson and Winston had taken the majority of the reps throughout the week.
This is a clear example of poor player management. Couple that with the fact that Watson was very obviously not the QB that gave the Browns the best chance to win, and we start to question either his motives, or how much he really controls of the team he manages.
Over the off-season, Stefanski fired fan favorite coach Alex Van-Pelt and decided to go a new direction with Dorsey. When asked why, he stated he wanted to take the offense from good to great but has now successfully taken the offense from mediocre to non-existent. Stefanski's play calling has been questioned numerous times since his tenure in Cleveland began, and it still deserves to be.
Too often the offense looks to be developing too slow, plays are getting to the QB too slow, the receivers look slow, and the offensive line's reads are so slow that players are in the backfield before they even turn their heads. There are far too many penalties, most of which have been illegal shift or some other type of pre-snap penalty that stalls the drive before it begins. The offense was never he strength of the team and in 2023, but the Browns won in spite of them; the same can't be said in 2024.
Browns offense under Kevin Stefanski: F