Are The Browns For Real? 3 Takeaways From Browns’ Dramatic Win vs. Steelers
First-year Browns head coach Todd Monken told everyone who would listen this offseason that he thought he could win in Cleveland. And for the most part, everybody laughed. But nobody is laughing anymore. One month into the season, Monken’s Browns are now in first place in the AFC North after their wild, dramatic, 27-24 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Cleveland on Thursday night. It took a 56-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt with 10 seconds left to do it, but the win left the Browns with a 3-1 record. Not bad for a franchise that won a total of eight games over the last two seasons. They have a young, talented team, a confident and fearless coach, and last night it sure looked like they’ve found a quarterback, too. Here are my takeaways from a night where they surely made Pittsburgh’s Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers feel old: When I visited Browns’ training camp this summer, Monken made it clear to me that his main issue was to “find a quarterback.” He seemed to think it might even be a season-long search. But it seems pretty clear that he’s got his guy — at least for the short term. Deshaun Watson was mostly outstanding against the Steelers on Thursday night, completing 24 of 33 passes for 268 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He was a lot better in the first half than the second, but he was also pretty good at the end of the game, when he went 4 for 5 for 46 yards. Watson has been pretty good all season too, though this was the first time he flashed some of his old potential. For the most part, he was on target, showed off his strong arm, and, maybe most importantly, he almost single-handedly kept the Steelers’ pass rush off-balance, using his mobility to get out of trouble and extend plays. Watson is 31 now and has barely played the last five years, so who knows how long this will last? But he’s coming through when it counts and the Browns are winning, so any thoughts Monken might have had about giving a shot to second-year pro Shedeur Sanders have to be on the back burner now. Back in the summer, Monken seemed ready to ride Watson as far as he could. And right now he doesn’t seem to be slowing down Maybe Sanders will still be the Browns’ quarterback of the future. It’s hard to imagine the Browns would bring Watson back next year under any circumstances once his fully guaranteed $230 million albatross of a contract finally expires. But that’s a problem for later. For now, Watson is giving Cleveland everything it needs. When Aaron Rodgers was leading the Steelers back from a 21-10 deficit in the fourth quarter, he looked like his younger self. He fired a strike down the field to DK Metcalf. He rolled out of the collapsing pocket and threw a 21-yard dart to tight end Darnell Washington for a touchdown. He even threw his 42-year-old body over the middle for a 2-point conversion on a quarterback sneak. It was fantastic to watch. It was just like old times. The problem is, it’s increasingly rare. Rodgers completed 22 of 40 passes for 299 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions — hardly a good game by his standards. But it’s what is beyond the numbers that really is most alarming. Until he found Metcalf deep in the fourth quarter, he struggled to throw anything beyond 15 yards. Most of his downfield throws were wobbly floaters that were way off target. And even worse, he has become a sitting duck in the pocket. Most of the time when he tries to escape, he looks like he’s running in slow motion. That’s why he took a beating from the Browns defense, which ended up sacking him five times. There are things Rodgers can still do well. He’s got a brilliant football mind and rarely makes a mistake with where he throws the ball. His release is still lightning quick. He also knows how to throw his players open, maybe better than any quarterback in the league. And, as he showed late against the Browns, he’s still clutch. He knows what to do and how to do it when the game is on the line. But his ability to be consistent is shot. His big-play skills are all but gone, only available for an occasional cameo. And that’s turned McCarthy’s attack into something of a predictable, plodding mess that feels like it moves in slow motion. That can be effective — like on their game-opening, 17-play, 78-yard, 9:48-long touchdown drive — but only in small bursts. What they need is a lot more of the Rodgers they saw in the fourth quarter, the one who can move and still fire accurate throws down the field. Unfortunately for them, it just doesn’t look like Rodgers is capable of doing that with any regularity anymore. This has not exactly been the NFL’s best-run franchise in the seven-year reign of general manager Andrew Berry, but he deserves some credit for this: This roster is loaded with good, young, dynamic players on both sides of the ball. If they can solve their long-term quarterback problem, they could be set up to be good for years. But all that youth seems like it’s a bit of a problem right now, because they sometimes play like they’re a bunch of inexperienced kids. The Baby Browns committed 14 penalties on Thursday night, including five (one that was declined) in the final 5.5 minutes. That included a defensive holding that gave the Steelers another shot at the game-tying touchdown, and an offside (by star edge rusher Jared Verse) on the ensuing 2-point conversion. They survived, but it’s not easy to make that many mistakes and still pull a game like this off. Better opponents are going to take advantage of that. It will be the Browns’ undoing if they somehow stay in the playoff race. Make no mistake, though: The kids are good, and they were showing off against the Steelers, particularly on offense. That includes their two terrific rookie receivers, Denzel Boston (4 receptions for 89 yards) and KC Concepcion (5 receptions for 64 yards), and two finds from last year’s draft, tight end Harold Fannin (3 receptions for 27 yards and a touchdown) and running back Quinshon Judkins (17 carries for 53 yards and a touchdown, plus six catches for 43 yards). And on defense, they’ve got a few young impact players, like edge rusher Jared Verse, whom they got in the Myles Garrett trade with the Rams, and linebacker Carson Schwesinger, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year. That kind of talent will carry them a long way in the future. The penalties and youthful mistakes, though, will keep holding them back.
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