Jameis Winston's abilities as the Cleveland Browns' quarterback give the team a chance to win that Deshaun Watson never would. Is it too late to mean anything?
When you hand your entire franchise to a quarterback who is literally incapable of playing at an NFL level, that will eventually drain down to everyone else in the organization, and people will eventually lose hope. When you are not allowed to hold that quarterback accountable for all his flaws both on and off the field, the process is accelerated, because nobody in the organization will take those in charge seriously.
That was the situation presented to the Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson all season long. Ownership wanted Watson on the field because of his ridiculous contract despite the fact that he was the NFL's worst quarterback, and all head coach Kevin Stefanski and Stefanski's players could do was parrot the same old "Deshaun gives us the best chance to win" and "We all need to support Deshaun" tropes.
Now, with Watson's ruptured right Achilles tendon ending his season, and Jameis Winston as his replacement, the Browns looked like an entirely different team in their 29-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Watson has never thrown for 300 yards in a Browns uniform over 19 starts; Winston completed 27 of 41 passes for 341 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, a passer rating of 115.3, a Passing EPA of +12.2. In many ways, he outplayed Lamar Jackson, the current front-runner for the NFL Most Valuable Player award.
Now, the Browns are the most eager and excited 2-6 team you've ever seen, for one simple reason: They know (as they've always known) that with their run game and their defense, even passable quarterback play would make them competitive, and good quarterback play could make them contenders. They got the latter from Winston, and that presents an entirely different story.
“We've got to give them something to cheer about," Stefanski said postgame of a home crowd that was standing up and cheering for once. "We gave them some unbelievable plays. The effort plays from this team again on offense, defense and special teams. I think our fans react when they see guys playing hard. That’s kind of what this town’s about. So, we gave them something to cheer about.”
This was in an offense without Amari Cooper, the team's best receiver once upon a time, after Cooper was traded to the Buffalo Bills, and with former Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey calling the plays — Stefanski had given that responsibility to Dorsey so he could take a 30,000-foot level view of the team.
Perhaps Stefanski knew that without Watson and with Winston, there would actually be something worth watching.
“Ken always talks about how we’re not going to be conservative; we’re going to be aggressive and not conservative," Winston said after the win. "And that’s the way he preaches as an offensive coordinator. And that’s what we showed, that’s what we exemplified out there on that field today. So, I’m proud of him. I’m proud of our – really our boys up front because it starts with them, and it finishes with them. And I’m so grateful that they had an amazing day, and they will continue to do that.”
The Browns' newfound aggressiveness reared its head from Winston's first passing attempt of the game — a 20-yard completion to tight end David Njoku with Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton providing tight coverage over the middle. With the protection he needed to wait for the play to play out, Winston calmly threw the ball over the head of linebacker Roquan Smith, and to a spot where Njoku could get it, and Hamilton couldn't.
Winston had five explosive completions in this game; Watson had just 10 all season long. Winston has just 53 attempts this season; Watson had 216. Winston's first big completion was the 23-yard touchdown pass to Njoku with 10:52 left in the third quarter. Once again, the Ravens clamped down on Njoku with Cover-1 — this time, safety Eddie Jackson was on the tight end — and once again, Winston made the tight-window throw. But first, he looked safety Ar'Darius Washington off to the other side. When was the last time you saw Deshaun Watson look a safety off and then make a pinpoint throw?
Winston's 30-yard completion to Jerry Jeudy with 3:30 left in the third quarter was an example of a quarterback who could calmly go through his progressions, and make the right throw. That's a luxury the Browns haven't had all season long. Winston scanned the Ravens' Cover-1, glanced at receiver Elijah Moore on the frontside over route, and decided that the better play was Jeudy on the backside crosser. Which it turned out to be — and nice balancing act from Jeudy at the end of the play.
Both of Winston's explosive touchdowns to receiver Cedric Tillman — the 22-yarder with 2:06 left in the third quarter, and the 38-yard game-winner with 1:04 left in the fourth quarter — came against the blitz. Winston threw Tillman open on a quick slant for the first touchdown, and he took advantage of the leak in coverage on the clinching score as safety Eddie Jackson ran behind.
“Just details, going at it one play at a time," Winston said of the final touchdown. "I think when you’re able to get certain people targets, defenses aren’t able to locate their eyes on one specific person. And [Tillman] showed up when it mattered most. So, I’m very happy for him.”
“I was in a coverage with a safety," Tillman said of that most important touchdown. "I knew I had to make a play. Jameis always says he’s going to throw it; he’s going to come back to me. We did that, and we executed at the end.”
Of course, it wouldn't be a Jameis Winston game without a few rogue gene throws, and one almost ended the Browns' chanced. It was the pass just before Tillman's second touchdown, when Winston sailed the quick crosser to Elijah Moore with 1:08 left in the game. Kyle Hamilton, one of the NFLs best safeties, simply dropped the ball instead of managing an interception that would have ended the game.
"I started praying instantly," Winston concluded. "It was only by the grace of God. And I think when situations like that happen, you always sit back and you’re like, ‘Man, I still got the stuff to work on,’ right? Because it could have been a matter of whatever. Who knows how we would feel right now if that would have happened. But I’m so grateful that that was an ‘if’. And ‘ifs,’ and ‘shoulds,’ and ‘would’ve, could’ves’ don’t mean nothing in this game.”
Well, the Browns are now faced with some interesting ‘ifs,' ‘shoulds,' ‘would’ves,' and 'could’ves.’ It's clear that they'd be in a much better spot if they had handed the reins to Winston earlier in the season. But at 2-6, is it too late for any of this to make a difference?
The Browns don't seem to think so, and that starts with their new quarterback.
“A win like this is required to change the season around," Winston said. "We have to continue to come to work and apply ourselves every single day and keep scratching and climbing. We have a long way to go. I’m happy that we got this win for the fans. This was a fan base win, right? All the stuff that happened last week, it was an emotional week for us, but this was a fan base win. And now we have the fans back on our side and we have to continue to fight for them and show up and show out because it is required for us to be the best NFL players that we can be and win football games for the Cleveland Browns organization.”
The Browns have nobody to blame but themselves for the hole they're in, but perhaps with the right blend of hope and good play, they can dig themselves out.
