To say Deshaun Watson silenced the outside noise during Sunday’s second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wouldn’t be doing his performance justice. National NFL insiders were literally soft-launching his potential benching had that result gone the other way.
But while Watson came through big time with his efficient play that helped Cleveland steal a 23-19 road win, his first snaps in front of the home fans will define whether that performance was real or an aberration.
The Browns will play their home opener on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. Head coach Todd Monken laughed off reports that Watson could be benched before that game, but that idea felt very real at halftime of Sunday’s game. The Browns had scored six points, converted three total first downs, and had more penalty yardage as a team (60) than net yards gained on offense (58).
To Watson’s credit, he put together two of the finest quarters of his Browns tenure, leading Cleveland back from a 10-point deficit. But we all remember how Watson looked, how the fans reacted, and what Watson said after his last on-field appearance at Huntington Bank Field.
Zac Jackson of The Athletic gave Watson his kudos for Sunday’s performance, but what comes next — as in the first quarter against Carolina and whatever’s coming from what should be a jam-packed and rowdy stadium — will tell us everything.
“I can’t fully predict what happens there,” Jackson wrote, “but I’m most interested to see whether Watson is mentally ready to play right away or if he’s worried about the crowd and the early reaction. That answer is more important than what fans yell or which Sunday clips go viral.”
Winning back a hostile Cleveland crowd will show whether Deshaun Watson has really turned a corner
Jason Lloyd, Jackson’s colleague, shared a similar sentiment about Sunday’s home opener: “I’d still be hesitant to introduce the offense if I were them,” he wrote.
Watson and the Browns should expect at least a loud smattering of boos when the offense takes the field. What Watson does in the face of that will dictate what the scene inside the stadium ultimately becomes.
If Watson looks rattled and plays terrible football, like he did during the third quarter of Cleveland’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills this summer, the crowd is going to be all over him. If he carries the momentum from Sunday’s galvanizing win and puts points on the board early, the boo birds should dissipate.
The misconception Watson clearly continues to grapple with is that the fans’ reaction isn’t solely personal or directed at the quarterback. It’s directed at ownership, too. It’s directed at a franchise that continues to move in reverse while constantly talking up the future.
But it’s Week 3 of a new season. Browns fans would love to stop hating their starting quarterback and start feeling good about the team again.
The only way for that to happen is for Cleveland to put out a winning product, and Watson just gave himself one final chance to deliver on that promise.
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