Cleveland Browns Quarterback Deshaun Watson’s Six-Game Season Is Nearly Over

What seems like the longest season ever for an NFL franchise that specializes in long, disappointing seasons, is almost over.

The Cleveland Browns are two games away from the finish line, although this season was finished well before the finish line was even within sight.

Its been over a quarter of a century – 30 years, for those scoring at home – since the Browns last won their division. The year was 1989. The coach was Bud Carson. The quarterback was Bernie Kosar. The outcome was a familiar one.

Hint: the Browns didn’t win the Super Bowl.

In 1989 the Browns, whose 9-6-1 record was good enough to win what was then called the AFC Central, made it all the way to the AFC Championship game, where they lost to the Denver Broncos.

That was the third time in four seasons the Browns reached the AFC Championship game, only to lose to John Elway’s Broncos. In 1989 the Browns lost 37-31. In 1988 the Browns lost 38-33. In 1987 the Browns lost 23-20, in overtime.

Those scores left scars. They’re still visible today, if you look closely enough, in the broken psyche of Browns fans everywhere, who go into every season hoping for the best, but fearing the worst.

The 2022 season delivered the not-so-good goods, as usual.

Once again, the Browns underachieved, but this time there was a twist. That was the highly controversial trade with Houston for quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was suspended for the first 11 games of the season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, after he was accused of sexual misconduct.

Backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett performed admirably in place of Watson, but the Browns staggered out of the gate, losing five of their first seven games, and were never able to generate any positive momentum throughout their season. In the four games he has started since his return from his suspension, Watson, and the Browns, have alternated between wins and losses, beating Houston 27-14, losing to Cincinnati 23-10, beating Baltimore 13-3, and losing to New Orleans 17-10.

Cleveland will finish the season with games at Washington on Sunday, and at Pittsburgh on January 8.

The loss to the Saints was particularly unsightly, given that the game was played in Cleveland, under brutal conditions, with high winds and at or below-zero wind-chill readings, yet the Browns lost to a team that plays its home games in a dome.

For Watson, his late-season arrival into the starting lineup, having not played NFL football in nearly two years, has been something akin to jumping onto a moving train. Born in Georgia, a college star at Clemson, and four NFL seasons playing in Houston is not exactly an ideal environmental preparation for late-season football in Cleveland.

The still-rusty Watson found that out in the loss to the Saints. Performing in high winds and low temperatures, Watson completed 15 of 31 passes for 135 yards, one interception, two sacks, and a passer rating of 47.1.

“I came to Cleveland to win a Super Bowl,” Watson said. “It isn’t all about stats for me. I’ve done that before. I’ve led the league in passing. Stats are for the fans and the media.”

The final six games of this season are for Watson to get more familiar, under game conditions, with his receivers, the Browns’ offense, working with head coach/play caller Kevin Stefanski, and incorporating himself into the flow of the offense.

“I don’t want to be where I was in 2020. I want to be better than that,” Watson said. “That’s why I came to Cleveland. It’s not just for right now, it’s for the long run. This is a new system for me. It’s more about the timing and the rhythm of the offense. I’m still getting used to it.”

Watson has two more games to smooth out the rough edges in his understanding of Stefanski’s offense. Offseason workouts with Browns No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper, which are already being planned, should help accelerate the new quarterback’s learning curve, as will a full participation in training camp next summer.

In truth, the education and assimilation of Watson into the Browns’ offensive operation was one of the primary goals for this Browns season, regardless of how late in the season that schooling began.

The team obviously was hoping for something longer than a six-game end-of-season “season” to facilitate Watson’s learning curve. But the Browns, and their new quarterback, had no choice but to play the hand that was dealt them – or, more accurately, the hand that they dealt themselves.

Would the Browns have had a better 2022 with a half-season instead of one-third of a season of Watson? Probably. But the Browns signed up for what they signed up for when they traded for Watson and gave him a five-year $230 million contract.

If that meant, as judged by their record, another long and disappointing season, so be it.

Next year is only two days away.