CLEVELAND, Ohio – Deshaun Watson is under pressure and starts checking boxes. Ideally, he negates it before the snap by audible to the right pass defense. If not, he checks to his hot read, football jargon for a quick throw meant to help a quarterback blitz.
What if steps one and two don’t work?
“After that, it’s just a reaction,” Watson said on Sunday. “After that, something has to happen because they’ve caught us.”
This simple explanation was once Watson’s superpower. Back in Houston or at Clemson, many free-running blitzers would strike and miss the great quarterback escape artist. In fact, many of Watson’s best plays came while under fire, in the clutches of a defender, and/or while running and evading danger.
However, in Sunday’s 33-17 loss to the Cowboys, Houdini slipped away from Dallas pass rushers, sacking him six times and hitting him 17 more times. Watson completed 24 of 45 passes (53.3%) for 169 yards (3.8 per attempt), one touchdown and two interceptions (plus one fumble recovered by the Browns), which led a stunned fan base to think, among other things:
What happened to the passer who thrived under pressure?
Coach Kevin Stefanski will tell you how he told reporters the Browns let Watson down on Sunday. Stefanski underscored several points, including a question about how well Watson read the Dallas defense on Sunday, adding, “We can’t let our quarterback get hit that often,” which is true. Sacks are bad. Teams that allow them in droves often lose.
All-Pro guard Wyatt Teller “isn’t here to blame anyone,” he said, but Teller was willing to direct responsibility in a direction away from the quarterback. The Browns, for example, committed seven offensive penalties that forced Cleveland into more obvious passing situations. If you strip away Watson’s team-best 44 rushing yards, the offense ran for just 54 yards on 14 carries (3.9 per carry). Teller even complained about a pair of “coverage sacks,” suggesting that receivers struggled to get free at times. And when it came to discussing Watson’s role in Cleveland’s protection woes – Watson said earlier in the week that he doesn’t like to blame his linemen – Teller stonewalled.
“…It just sucks when you have to take care of a guy and you don’t,” Teller said. “It sucks. I have a lot of respect for him taking responsibility, but honestly, we need to run the ball (better) up front whenever we get those fronts, whenever we get those Cover 2 (looks).” We take responsibility for that.
“He takes responsibility for things he shouldn’t do. I respect that. But we have to get better.”
OK, I’ll say it: Watson needs to get better, too. A lot better. Not only that, but we have a long history of success to suggest he used to be, even on days like Sunday. And as much as Watson’s supporting cast hurt him against the Cowboys, his performance should still be a concern.
But six bags are a lot! For most quarterbacks, yes. Tom Brady, who made his debut on the FOX broadcast on Sunday, played one Six-sack game of 335 in 23 years. Sunday’s loss was the 11th six-sack game of his career (including three with seven). In 54 games in Houston, Watson has had six sacks at least eight times, or about once every seven games. In 13 games in Cleveland, Watson has had six sacks three times, or about once every four games.
Could it be that Watson is a difficult quarterback to guard because of his unpredictable movement in the pocket and his top 10 average throw time in four of his five seasons (and top 5 in both of Cleveland’s seasons)?
“I’ve been blocking for him for a while. So I don’t know if it’s just me getting used to his style of play,” Teller said. “When you’re playing against a zone defense that can also apply pressure, you have to follow through. You have to stay in front of the chains. Because a team like that can line up 5, 6, 7 guys and be close enough (in coverage) where a close shot gets blocked. There are a lot of things we could have done better.”
OK, fine. But the numbers again suggest Watson could have (and did) handle consistent pressure much better than he did on Sunday. The eight six-sack games Watson endured with the Texans? He won four. He completed 68% of his passes, averaged 272 yards per game (237 passing) and totaled 13 touchdowns (nine passing) compared to five interceptions. The three in Cleveland? All losses with a 57% completion percentage, 246 yards (211 passing), four total touchdowns (all passing) and five interceptions.
Put another way, Deshaun Watson used to excuse a failure of the supporting cast. Miss your block? Watson will miss the rusher. Can’t get free in three seconds? Watson will give you five.
Now it seems the Browns are looking for reasons to justify their alarming Week 1 performance. Of course, context is important. Tackles Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wils Jr. missed Week 1 with injuries. Dallas employs one of the league’s best pass rushers in Micah Parsons, who recorded a sack and nine pressures on Sunday. Cleveland’s penalties, running game and defensive deficiencies pushed Watson into a pass-happy corner.
But you could just as easily argue that Watson put the defense in bad positions with turnovers and three-and-outs. You could say that a running game can’t thrive if the defense isn’t afraid of the pass. And you could point out that a quarterback can’t get sacked six times (or hit 17 times) if he doesn’t hold onto the ball long enough or misreads a blitz tell (or two).
The truth, as always, lies in the gray area. Watson could have acted more efficiently. His blockers could have given him more time. In Stefanski’s words: “This applies to everyone. These things are reserved for all of us. It’s never about one person.”
No, but the Browns have staked their future on it. They bet their franchise (and a large portion of their salary cap) on Watson’s ability to succeed even in bad conditions and to elevate the players around him to a higher level. They believed he could check all the boxes, or that he could make an impact even when he called the wrong defense or missed a hot read.
But on Sunday, the Cowboys got him. Watson either couldn’t break free or couldn’t make enough plays when he could. His new team lost ugly because his old tricks no longer worked, leaving a baffled fan base wondering:
Who is Houdini without magic?
