After the last year and a half of drama and lawsuits, Deshaun Watson will be making his Browns debut this Sunday vs. his former team.
Written by: Ariel Cohen
29 November 2022
This Sunday will be the long-awaited return of Deshaun Watson. The NFL scriptwriters seemed to have a field day with the schedule as it sets up perfectly for his first game to be in Houston vs the Texans. The Browns currently stand at 4-7 and their season is presumably over but there still is some hope. While it's highly unlikely for Watson to win out the rest of the year it isn't impossible. In these last six matchups, the only two strong opponents the Browns face are the Bengals and Ravens. Out of all the top-tier teams, I would say these are two of the more vulnerable teams as we've seen each of them lose many winnable games. As far as Watson goes we should expect nothing but excellence. The last time we saw him on the field you could have made the argument for him being the best quarterback in football and there is no reason anything should have changed. If we've learned anything in the last year it's that taking a year off from football can't be an excuse as we've seen both Micah Parsons and Ja'Marr Chase dominate the NFL after sitting out their finals seasons in college. Watson has also been practicing and has had more than enough time to get comfortable in the system. Before the trade for Watson, everyone agreed that the Browns were "a QB away". Watson is in easily the best position of his career. He gets the privilege of handing the ball off to the best pure runner in football while also sitting behind an elite offensive line. In the passing game, he has a true #1 receiver in Amari Cooper as well as Kareem Hunt out of the backfield. Even the tight ends are playing well so far as David Njoku and Harrison Bryant seem to be good safety valves. This offense is good enough to let Jacoby Brissett have a 61.4 QBR (7th highest) and 2,608 yards (13th highest). If Brissett is looking like a mediocre QB in this offense Deshaun Watson must look like the superstar he is. Anything less than that will be a disappointment. As far as this Sunday goes I expect them to still rely heavily on the run game but won't be surprised if we see Watson finish the game with multiple touchdowns and a couple of deep shots. This will be the first time the Browns have ever had a legit top 5 quarterback so they may have to ease into a new scheme but I still think anything under a 9-7 record will be a disappointment for Watson.
Comments