The Cleveland Browns bet their future on not only the character but the on-field performance of quarterback Deshaun Watson, the former Pro Bowler who sat out all of last season with the Houston Texans and continues to serve an 11-game suspension in 2022.
He must continue to sit out the next two games, but there are serious questions as to what team he will be inheriting. Coming off of a rejuvenating 32-13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals before their bye, the Browns were trounced yesterday by the Miami Dolphins.
Watson is eligible to return to practice this week for the first time since the preseason, but there are still two more games—against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Buffalo Bills—they must get through before they can get their franchise quarterback on the field for the very first time in a meaningful setting.
The Browns are sitting at 3-6 and have lost five of their last six games following yesterday’s defeat, but All-Pro defender Myles Garrett still believes that they can hand off a team capable of contending in 2022—as long as they do what they need to do the next two weeks against Tom Brady and Josh Allen and the teams they quarterback.
“We have to win the next two. First, we have to win the Bills and then we’ll get on to the next one. But I mean, we’re looking to the future. We have to win both of them”, he told reporters yesterday, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
While he was deferential to the abilities of his two upcoming opponents, saying that Brady’s career “speaks for itself” (as do his seven Super Bowl rings), he also told reporters that “they’re in no way, shape or form unbeatable — especially for us”.
I’m not sure exactly what justifies the especially part considering the fact that the Browns in all phases this season have been largely unremarkable, particularly defensive where they rank in the bottom quadrant of points allowed, but nevertheless, there we are.
Garrett himself is of course having a strong individual season, sitting at 7.5 sacks for example—one behind the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Alex Highsmith, I might casually mention—but they only have 20 as a team through nine games, and a whopping eight takeaways.
Truthfully, it has the offense that has been better, particularly due to the running game and Nick Chubb (and Kareem Hunt). That will remain intact once Jacoby Brissett gives way to Watson at quarterback, but what grounds is there to believe that Watson, who hasn’t played a meaningful snap since 2020, can come in mid-season and play the difference maker on a .333 team?
