Remember that time Deshaun Watson went 5-1 with the Cleveland Browns last year? Well if that felt like Bizarro World to you, reality might be proving you right. The Browns are 1-4 this year, and they have the Philadelphia Eagles up next.
They are not a good team at all this season, and, well, Deshaun Watson is the main reason why. In fact, he is facing heavy criticism for his on-field play, which is saying something considering all the complaints about his off-field play.
Despite talk about possibly benching him and his obscene and virtually inescapable contract, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters yesterday that they have not considered sitting Watson. They went out this offseason and signed Jameis Winston to be their backup, who is a credible option. But at least for now, they are not budging. And Watson isn’t listening.
“I don’t hear it, I don’t see it. I’m not on Twitter, I’m not on any social media or things like that”, Watson said about blocking out the noise and calls for his benching. “The only time I first hear it is either [reporters] are bringing it up or somebody else outside. And I just don’t know who it’s coming from”.
Well, it’s coming from many outlets, some more legitimate than others, but it’s out there. And there are reports suggesting that Stefanski doesn’t even have the authority from owner Jimmy Haslam to bench Watson. Whether that’s true or not who knows, but it’s all one sinking ship.
“For the outside people and the media, it might be loud”, Watson said about calls for his benching. “But for myself, I got to make sure I’m locked in and trying to do whatever I can to get all of us on the same page to play winning football”.
One common theme this year has been Deshaun Watson being reactionary when pointing out the plays he misses on the field, which result in losses. The problem is, he keeps saying “judge me by my body of work” (to paraphrase). But his body of work consists of missed plays that result in a .200 winning percentage.
On the season, Deshaun Watson is 106-of-176 passing, just a 60.2 completion percentage. He is producing an eye-wateringly low 4.8 yards per pass attempt with 852 passing yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions. And he has taken 26 sacks already in just five games. While he has 131 rushing yards and one touchdown, he also has five fumbles.
And the Browns rank 30th in scoring. Watson is far from the Browns’ only problem, even just on the offensive side of the ball, but he is by far the biggest. The quarterback position is just too important to be getting this quality of play. We’re barely more than a month into the season and Cleveland is nearly irrelevant already. The Browns is the Browns, because they do things like sticking with Watson. Whether it’s Stefanski or Haslam, it doesn’t matter.
