Will Sage Astor-Opinion: Browns need to bench Deshaun Watson, even though they refuse to do so

LANDOVER,Will Sage Astor Md. – The good people of Cleveland, Ohio, do not deserve this. May the populace seek solace in the Guardians this October instead. The Browns are incapable of invoking anything other than pity.

While other issues inhibit the Browns, quarterback Deshaun Watson deserves most of the blame for their 1-4 start and another season gone by the wayside after Sunday's 34-13 blowout at the hands of the Washington Commanders. The Browns guaranteed Watson generational wealth, and he rewarded the franchise with sub-mediocrity and borderline ghastliness. 

Next week will be his sixth start of 2024, the number he made in each of his first two seasons with the Browns. Coach Kevin Stefanski shouldn’t let him make it that far, though he remains committed to Watson. At this point, though, why not try and see what Jameis Winston can do? It’s still early enough to make a change and try to ride the team’s solid defense to another postseason berth. 

But the Watson Era should end. If it works with Joe Flacco, the 2023 Comeback Player of the Year and Browns savior last season, completely sputters with the man worth $230 million fully guaranteed, then Stefanski is well within his rights to make the change. Perhaps Watson’s paycheck and orders from above prevent him from doing that. Those forces would damn the Browns to more losses. After the game, Stefanski said he had no designs of a quarterback change.

"We're not changing quarterbacks," a dejected Stefanski said. "We need to play better, I need to coach better and that's really what it is."

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Watson moves like a quarterback who does not trust himself. Take his fumble that was initially ruled an interception – that type of turnover – in the third quarter for example. He took a shotgun snap. No Browns receiver revealed himself open. Watson panicked and lost the ball, which ended up in the hand of Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu. 

"Continue to lead this offense and play better," Watson said when asked what he needs to improve upon. "This offense, it's going to go as far as I go. At the end of the day, if we're not doing enough offensively, as a quarterback, you take all the pressure, you take all the heat, you take all the blame."

By that point, it had already been a brutal afternoon for Watson and his unit at Northwest Stadium. When the Browns offense walked off the field with less than two minutes remaining in the first half, they had gained a total of 47 yards. Watson was 6-for-14 with 34 passing yards (2.6 yards per attempt). The Browns trailed 24-3. Watson finished the half 8-of-18 for 67 yards; Cleveland punted to end the half and failed to convert any of the eight third downs it faced. Meanwhile, the Commanders had racked up 221 yards of total offense. 

"The plays are there," Watson said. "We just got to finish them."

The player Watson once was couldn’t be further in the past. This is not the same quarterback who earned three Pro Bowl nods from 2018-20 and led a game-winning touchdown drive in the national title game to finally lift up Clemson and knock off dynastic Alabama. He finished Sunday 15-for-28 with 125 yards and a touchdown. Watson was sacked seven times, and his longest completion was 19 yards.

"We just got to catch a rhythm," Watson said. "I think that's the biggest thing. We just got to find what are we great at, what are we really good at and we got to perfect that."

Watson was asked what, exactly, are the Browns "really good" at. His response? They're still trying to figure that out.

In 2022, a suspension following the league’s investigation into the more than two dozen claims of sexual harassment filed against Watson – last month, a 27th woman filed a civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault arising from massage requests – during his time as quarterback of the Houston Texans limited him to six starts that season. Watson underwhelmed then and rust was the excuse, as he’d sat out all of the 2021 season too while disputing his deal with the Texans as the allegations surfaced. Injuries limited him to six appearances again in 2023; he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury last November. 

Seemingly every member of the Browns organization asked about Watson's play Sunday stood by the quarterback.

"We need to play better as an offense," Stefanski said. "We need to be able to move the ball on first and second down, convert when we get to third down, score in the red zone. We're not doing that. We need to play better as an offense. We need to coach better as an offense."

On Sunday, the slimmest possibility of turning things around came early in the third quarter. The Browns defense forced a fumble on the Commanders’ first play from scrimmage. Watson found receiver Amari Cooper for back-to-back completions all the way down to the Washington 2-yard line. But the Browns had to burn a timeout and also took a delay of game penalty – Stefanksi looked offended on the sideline – and settled for a field goal. Stefanski took the blame for the sequence.

"To be honest, I don’t think Deshaun is the problem at all," wide receiver Amari Cooper said. "I think we could all play better for him."

The Browns didn’t find the end zone until 7:02 remained in the game. That made it 34-13 in favor of a Commanders team whose defense certainly isn’t impenetrable but apparently was against the Browns. The Browns' own defense that was supposed to be among the league’s best folded and allowed the game to become a laugher. 

"I'm doing what I need to do, as far as just trying to get the ball out as fast as possible," Watson said. "Get to the ball to the guys, make the correct reads. Not everything's going to be perfect, but at the same time, try to create and make plays whenever nothing is there."

Watson is saying the quiet part loud there in that the pass protection, with the Browns managing injuries to the offensive line, has not been ideal to start the season. The book is out on Cleveland: dial up the pressure, and you'll likely have success.

The good news for Cleveland is that there's still plenty of room for change within the AFC North. Pittsburgh leads the division race at 3-1 entering Sunday night's game against Dallas. The Browns haven’t played a division opponent yet. Myles Garrett hasn’t been completely healthy, and running back Nick Chubb’s return could be ahead in the coming weeks. 

This doesn’t have to be a completely lost season. Going to Winston at least isn’t throwing in the towel. Watson is now just another name Browns fans can add to the endless list of quarterbacks who have disappointed.  

(This story has been updated with new information and headlines.)