The Browns' former first-round pick is thriving with the Buccaneers while Cleveland's quarterback situation has been a disaster.
After the Cleveland Browns lost starting quarterback Deshaun Watson to a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 7 the team turned to backup Jameis Winston. For one glorious week Cleveland’s passing game was competent. Winston threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns and the Browns outscored Watson’s best effort with a season-high 29 points in their victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
The following week, Browns fans witnessed the flip side of Winston as he threw three interceptions in a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Still, with 235 passing yards against LA, Winston was an improvement over Watson, who failed to reach the 200 yard mark in any of his seven starts this season.
Browns’ GM Andrew Berry was asked what he would say to fans that are watching backup quarterbacks throw for 300 yards and seeing Baker Mayfield’s success in Tampa Bay when Deshaun Watson struggled so mightily before getting hurt.
“When you’re 2-7 entering the bye, you understand the fans' frustration. And we have not played consistently on offense and it’s shared ownership. It really is shared ownership. We’re capable of playing better, we should play better,” Berry said, per a press conference transcript provided by the Browns’ Media Center.
“And like I said, we’re going to make the adjustments necessary to improve our performance throughout the next eight games and then obviously make the adjustments to make sure we’re not feeling this way the first nine games of the year moving forward,” Berry added.
Feel better, Browns fans?
Former Browns' QB Baker Mayfield is having a career year in Tampa Bay
Winston’s strong outing in Week 8 likely ended Watson’s tenure as Cleveland’s starting QB. Head coach Kevin Stefanski adamantly endorsed Winston as the team’s starter and he’ll probably keep the job for the remainder of the season. So the Browns are in for the full Jameis experience – the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs… the creamy middles.
Meanwhile, over in the NFC South, Baker Mayfield is putting together the best season of his career. The Buccaneers fell to 4-5 after Week 9’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. But the team has been hit hard by injuries. Tampa Bay lost wideout Chris Godwin for the season due to a dislocated ankle and veteran receiver Mike Evans went down with a hamstring injury that will cost him multiple games.
Still, Mayfield has been spectacular. After nine games he leads the league in touchdown passes (23), while he’s second in completions (225) and passing yards (2,389). He’s completed a career-best 71.4 percent of his passes and has a 105.6 rating.
The Browns selected Mayfield with the first overall pick in the 2018 draft. However, the team decided to trade for Watson prior to the 2022 season, giving up on Mayfield. Baker was sent to the Carolina Panthers and the Browns signed Watson to one of the worst contracts in NFL history.
When asked directly if the decision to acquire Watson was his idea, Berry, quite understandably, dodged the question, telling reporters “all of us were on board.” It’s hard to blame him. No one wants to be singled out for making one of the worst football decisions ever.
