The Cleveland Browns moved to 2-1 on Sunday after defeating the Carolina Panthers, and Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is giving everyone something to talk about. After the entire football world pushed back on him being named Cleveland’s starter, Watson has responded with some game-winning plays in the last two weeks.
However, this young season hasn’t been about Watson completely silencing doubters. Instead, it’s been a cycle of Watson giving his critics reason to remain skeptical, before doing just enough to keep everyone at bay. That was the case after the quarterback played poorly in Week 1, before responding with a solid performance in Week 2 when his job was on the line.
Watson essentially went through that entire experience during Cleveland’s Week 3 win, playing underwhelming football for most of the game, but delivering in the clutch.
Deshaun Watson gave supporters (and critics) more fuel with his Week 3 performance
Early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers went up 12-10, and Watson wasn’t really playing a good game. At that point, the veteran quarterback was just 10-of-21 for 67 yards and a touchdown. However, Cleveland’s offense got the ball trailing in the fourth quarter, and Watson’s best football followed.
First, Watson led the Browns on a seven-play, 44-yard drive for a field goal, highlighted by a 28-yard pass to Denzel Boston on the first play of the series. On that drive, the veteran quarterback completed all three of his passes for 43 yards, helping the Browns take the lead.
The Panthers immediately responded with a touchdown drive, recapturing the lead, but Watson had another answer. He led an eight-play, 65-yard drive that included a huge 21-yard run from him, as well as three completions on six attempts for 34 yards and the game-winning touchdown.
So on Cleveland’s two most critical offensive drives, Deshaun Watson was 6-of-9 for 77 yards and a touchdown, and made some big plays with his legs. His production on those two drives was better than everything he did throughout the first three quarters combined, and the reason why there won’t be any talk about a quarterback change this week in Cleveland.
While it’s great that Watson is showing the ability to keep fighting, and that he can pull out his best football when his back is against the wall, he’s certainly playing with fire. Putting yourself in a hole and having to dig your way out is not a sustainable method for success.
However, as long as Watson can do it, he will continue to buy himself more time to figure things out. Eventually, the quarterback will either get better, and play more consistently throughout games and week to week, or he will start to fall short in the clutch, and the conversations about replacing him will return.
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