Very few people saw Deshaun Watson having the kind of performance that he did in the Cleveland Browns’ Week 2 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but for at least one week, the veteran quarterback was able to silence critics. Now, the Browns are preparing for their Week 3 home opener, and Watson has set himself up to start the game.
The quarterback did that by managing Sunday’s game extremely well. Watson got the ball into his playmakers’ hands and avoided costly mistakes. While there’s obviously room for his game to continue improving, the veteran quarterback has already improved his biggest weakness, and that’s what Cleveland should be most excited about.
That weakness was Watson’s response under pressure — an area where he usually unravels. However, in Week 2, some of the quarterback’s best plays came with a defender in his face.
Deshaun Watson’s surprising success under pressure could lead to a turnaround
One of the biggest reasons why Watson has been bad in Cleveland is that he hasn’t dealt with on-field pressure well. When things are less than ideal offensively, which happens a lot for the Browns, Watson would usually panic and make things worse.
Browns fans have far too many memories of the quarterback getting jittery in the pocket, running into sacks, or making ill-advised decisions that put the ball in harm’s way. That even happened in this year’s preseason, and in Week 1 when Watson threw an interception.
However, that wasn’t the case for Watson in Sunday’s win. There were multiple instances throughout the game where Watson stood in the pocket and delivered accurate throws before being hit by defenders. He did it a couple of times early in the game, finding KC Concepcion and Harold Fannin Jr. in the first quarter, and that was a sign of what was to come.
The best, and most promising examples of this both came in the second half. In the third quarter on a 1st-and-10, Watson had a free rusher in his face, and he ripped a back-shoulder throw to Denzel Boston for a gain of 15 yards.
In the fourth quarter of the game, during the drive on which Cleveland scored the game-winning touchdown, the Browns faced a critical 3rd-and-1. The play was a designed rollout for Watson, but two Buccaneers defenders knew what was coming and were immediately in the quarterback’s face. Watson stopped, brushed off one defender, and threw a jump pass to Fannin to pick up the first down.
Quite frankly, those are the kinds of plays that have resulted in disaster for Watson during his Browns era. The fact that he turned them into positives on Sunday is noteworthy. If Watson can make a habit out of that, he has a chance to be a productive quarterback for the Browns this season.
Cleveland has been waiting on that to happen since it traded for Watson in 2022. The quarterback has had sporadic moments where it seemed like he would finally get things on track, but that has never happened. That’s why this isn’t a moment to declare that Watson is back, but instead a time to highlight something that he’s doing well, and to monitor if it will continue.
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