Deshaun Watson still isn’t good after the Cleveland Browns’ first six games, but Kevin Stefanski is still sticking with him. The Browns head coach reiterated that he has no plans to bench the beleaguered quarterback despite his ineptitude. But how much longer can they go on with this, unless they are ready to abandon the season?
Already four games under .500 and living in the basement of the AFC North, the Browns may very well just do that. Deshaun Watson has been an albatross for the organization in multiple ways since trading for him in 2022. They have very little to show for it, finding their greatest success last season when he was out due to injury.
The Browns not only have the worst record in the league, they also have the lowest strength of victory. Deshaun Watson has only beaten the Jacksonville Jaguars, who likewise are 1-5. In case anybody cares, the Steelers have the fourth-best strength of victory.
Stefanski simply replied with a “Yes” when asked after the Browns’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles if he would stick with Watson. Last week, he merely said “No” when asked if he gave any consideration to benching him. “I thought there were some good moments”, he offered this time.
The Browns have scored one touchdown in their last 29 drives. They have seven offensive touchdowns all season and have not scored 20 points all year. Under Deshaun Watson, they are now the first team in the past decade to score under 20 points in the first six games of a season.
More ineptitude: Watson has the lowest first-down percentage per pass attempt of all quarterbacks attempting at least 100 passes in any season since 2007, out of 566 such instances. He is averaging one first down on under a quarter of his throws, 22.1 percent. For comparison, Justin Fields entered yesterday’s game throwing a first down on 28.7 percent of his passes.
At this point, beyond appearances, the only football reason I can come up with for the Browns not having the conversation about benching Deshaun Watson is because they believe tanking is the only reasonable outcome for the 2024 season.
The Browns’ worst record under Kevin Stefanski, though, is 7-10, and that was in his first season with Watson. They went 3-3 in the six games Watson started. Last year, they went 5-1 in the six games he started, 11-6 in all, but he was not a major factor in their success. They thrived on one of the best defenses in the league, primarily.
“We have to do something a little bit [different]”, Watson said after the Eagles game. “I don’t know what we have to do, but we have to do something. Lock in so we don’t cost ourselves any more games because we’ve got to really turn this around”.
One thing the Browns have to look forward to is the presumptive return of RB Nick Chubb. The All-Pro suffered a severe injury in Week 2 last year and has not played since. He started the season on the PUP List but has resumed practicing. He has to be activated soon before his return window closes. But if they’re trying to tank the season with Watson, they might as well sit him.
