What can the Cleveland Browns hope for without Deshaun Watson?
Whether you’re a fan of the 11-game suspension or not, we now know how long Deshaun Watson will be out of action due to his four counts of sexual assault, as ruled on by Judge Sue L. Robinson. While the embattled quarterback continues to skirt the issue and show no real remorse, the talk now moves to the Cleveland Browns and how they’ll be able to fair without their disgraced quarterback.
The Browns were expected to be a playoff team, but with the suspension passing the halfway point of the season, this gives the Browns just six games to find out how he’ll fit in the offense.
With Jacoby Brissett expected to start the season as the team’s quarterback, fans are now wondering just how good this team will actually be. No one really believes that Brissett is better than Baker Mayfield, and the talk about Brissett being on his level is ludicrous, to say the least.
Brissett isn’t a good starting quarterback and has proven that. He doesn’t push the action, he has some of the worst deep passes in the league and is just a game manager on his best day. Even in practice he usually takes the easy out. So with Watson gone, what can we expect from the first 11 games of the year?
At vs. Carolina (Sept. 11)
Baker Bros are going to be out in full force on this one. The Cleveland Browns will be going to Carolina where a potentially potent offense awaits them. With Jacoby Brissett being a more typical game-manager than a playmaker, the Browns are going to need the running game to help them get out to a lead, and the defense to hold their own.
The defense is improved from 2020 but it has holes, namely at safety and at defensive tackle. That means the Browns’ defense is ripe for RPO-style plays, Baker Mayfield’s specialty. John Johnson and whoever else the team has next to him is prone to getting beat. Every safety got lit up to some degree last year, save for M.J. Stewart, the new Houston Texan.
The Browns may have a good crop of running backs and a formerly great offensive line, but with issues at the receiving corp, issues at center, and now issues at quarterback, this offense will be anything but potent.
The Browns more than likely won’t be able to hang with the Panthers’ new offense built around Mayfield, a healthy Christian McCaffery, D.J. Moore, Robbie Anderson, former Browns receiver Rashard Higgins and reserved back Chuba Hubbard.
Panthers Win: (31-17)
Record: 0-1
Home vs. Jets (Sept. 18)
The Browns are a dumpster fire. The Jets are a firey sinkhole that leads to the eighth ring of hell. That’s the ring of people who committed fraud. The Jets, are the NFL’s best joke since Tom Brady getting suspended for having less air in a football.
The Browns could have the J.V. squad from St. Eds and they’d probably still be favored against the Jets. When you have incompetence at ownership, you’ll never get your ships steered right.
…Wait, what?…
The Jets’ only hope is having the cougar hunter himself Zach Wilson not only healthy but much improved from 2021. Wilson has a high-ceiling and is incredibly athletic but he’s not exactly got the best talent around him, nor does he have a great coaching staff. Garrett Wilson could be a threat but he could also be far from ready.
They’re relying on a lot of rookies and second-year pros this year, which makes the best chance for the Browns to get their first win. On a serious note, if Joe Flacco ends up starting, just go sign Phil Dawson to play quarterback and only let him do drop kicks all game.
That’ll get you a win pretty easily.
Browns Win: (27-5)
Record: 1-1
Home vs. Steelers (Sept. 22)
The Browns have Myles Garrett, Nick Chubb, and no quarterback. The Steelers have T.J. Watt and…Derek Watt? Judging from reactions coming out of Steelers camp, the quarterback battle between the three stooges; Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, and Kenny Pickett is going about as well as can be expected.
The Browns also have some poor quarterback play to look forward to against the Steelers. So this will be a horrendously hard game to watch. I wonder if Drew Bledsoe can still throw a football…
The Browns should have the advantage on the ground, that is, of course, if the center position hasn’t nuked the team as of yet. It needs to be emphasized that this Steelers defense is still very good and Ethan Pocic has been very bad. If they blitz, especially up the middle, Jacoby Brissett is going to be on his back all day.
I’m pretty sure with the rate at which the Steelers could get to him, Brissett will attempt to file a restraining order against T.J. Watt for harassment. With Deshaun Watson, yea, maybe he can outrun Watt, and not eat a dozen sacks.
I just don’t see that being the case of the Browns can’t get out to a lead, however.
Steelers Win: (20-9)
Record: 1-2
Away vs. Falcons (Oct. 2)
I’ll tell you this much, the Falcons rolling out Marcus Mariotta against the Browns and Jacoby Brissett will be the most equal quarterback contest you’ve ever seen. Sure, they have Drake London and former Browns player KhaDarrell Hodge, but then, what?
If Matt Ryan is still on this team, then sure, the Falcons have a clear path to victory. Insert your favorite Johnny Drama moment here. The Falcons, however, are looking at a much worse situation than last year. Last year Ryan threw the Falcons to 7-10, this year, they have even less talent and no Ryan.
The Browns really have no reason to let this one get away from them. The team can clearly control the action, and yes, the concern over the offensive line is real and genuine, but should they even get a bit out of their center, then this team will be able to rack up a load of rushing yards.
I don’t trust the Falcons offense to keep pace with Nick Chubb and Jerome Ford, and even if Brissett can’t will the ball pass seven yards, the team should be just fine here.
Browns Win: (24-13)
Record: 2-2
Home vs. Chargers (Oct. 9)
The Browns aren’t winning this game. The Los Angeles Chargers (of San Diego) are among one of the most complete teams in the league. Their biggest issue is their coach. We can relate. The Chargers have one of the better quarterbacks in the league and arguably the most potent big-play defense going. At least one of.
The Chargers will have an offense with the likes of Justin Herbert, Austin Ekeler, Mike Williams, Keenan Allen, and the best fullback (at least as far as names go) in Gabe Nabers. Herbert is already a Top 10 quarterback, Ekeler can put up nearly 2,000 yards combined in the air and on the ground, while Williams and Allen are each 1,000-yard receivers.
Then you add on Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack to the defense? The coaches will be saying “Run, Jacoby, run!” all day like he’s the Flash. Cus he’s going to have to be to avoid eating a sack sandwich several times on the day.
To be fair to the Browns, even with Watson, they weren’t going to be picked to win this game by me. The defense hasn’t shown me anything that makes me think they can slow down the Chargers. The Browns needed Baker Mayfield to have a huge game just to keep pace with them last year.
I don’t see that happening again.
Chargers Win: (35-13)
Record: 2-3
Home vs. Patriots (Oct. 16)
Stephen A. Smith told a near career-ending joke about how Bill Belichick looks bad without Tom Brady. Hilarious, especially considering that Mac Jones wasn’t some can’t-miss prospect and he ended up going to the Pro Bowl and leading the Patriots to a 10-win season.
Maybe it wasn’t a joke and just a terrible, terrible take…Regardless, Belichick isn’t done, by any means. He’s still the best coach in not only the history of the game but in today’s game as well. The Patriots are lacking any firepower or name value but they’re going to keep doing things the Patriots’ way and winning games due to it.
The Browns have Kevin Stefanski, who was so inept in 2021, that he threw a quarterback out to play who had to re-learn how to throw to accommodate an injury and a harness. We’re screwed. In a battle of X’s and O’s, Belichick is playing 3-D chess, and Stefanski’s sucking on the game of life pieces.
Defensively, the Patriots have a solid unit, but no one to make you sweat (at least right now), and they’ll be relying on Mack Wilson to help slow the Browns down. I don’t expect the Browns to be able to outduel the Patriots but the Patriots over-achieved last year in my opinion, and they are vulnerable but I don’t trust Stefanski enough to out-duel Belichick.
Patriots Win: (20-17)
Record: 2-4
Away vs. Ravens (Oct. 23)
If Lamar Jackson is healthy, this is an easy win for the Baltimore Ravens. If he’s injured, or out, the Browns have a real shot at winning this game. I’ve been running through these teams’ matchups with the idea that everyone on the Browns who isn’t already hurt will be there, so I have to do the same for the Ravens.
The Browns had a hard time keeping up with Jackson and the Ravens when Baker Mayfield was healthy and slinging shots downfield. That won’t be the case this time. J.K. Dobbins can make some people miss and the Ravens will be over-relying on Mark Andres as Jackson’s number one option to throw to, but the team has won with less before.
I mean, it’s not the playoffs.
The Browns will have to find a way to contain Jackson, something they haven’t done very well since he entered the league. He’s 5-3 against the Browns and has scored 15 touchdowns against the Browns in those eight games. Had he not been banged up in 2021, that number would’ve been higher.
I don’t see the Browns being able to slow Jackson down, not with how compromised their interior line is and how at risk their safeties are. If they can’t slow Jackson down, they won’t be able to keep pace on offense.
Ravens Win: (27-7)
Record: 2-5
Home vs. Bengals (Oct. 31)
By now you know what’s going to happen. Unless the Joe Burrow lead Cinncinatai Bengals completely fall apart due to injury or, you know, being the Bengals, the Browns are looking at another uphill battle. The Bengals only went 10-7 last season but did improve their offensive dramatically on paper.
The Bengals need to find out if those additions do help things, but hopefully, for Burrow, it did. After all, you don’t want to be running for your life again like last year. The Bengals have seemingly improved the offensive line so impressively that PFF has them in the Top 10 of their preseason rankings.
Does that mean that they are? I don’t know, but I sure as heck don’t want to give Burrow even more time to throw to Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, or Tyler Boyd. It’s very possible the Bengals have three receivers hit 1,000 yards this year, and that’s not even factoring in Joe Mixon.
Mixon is far from elite, but the Browns’ defense has holes in it that I’m very worried about and the Bengals seem like the perfect team to blow up the team’s secondary like the Kool-Aid man through a wall.
“Ooooh yeah.”
No, Kool-Aid man. Not “oh yeah”.
Bengals Win: (42-24)
Record: 2-6
Away vs. Dolphins (Nov. 13)
Finally, thank dog. A worse-ran team than the Browns. Or, maybe it’s more of a lateral idea here. Either way, the Dolphins are a team that has a worse quarterback than Jacoby Brissett, so yeah, Victory.
The Dolphins fired their pretty good head coach Brian Flores and replaced him with Mike McDaniel, the former San Francisco offensive coordinator of just one full season. That won’t blow up in anyone’s face, not at all.
The Dolphins defensively will be solid, barring injuries but offensively is where the focus is on. The team acquired Tyreek Hill, but they didn’t acquire Patrick Mahomes. They still have Tua Tagovailoa. So getting Hill is like getting really nice rims for your 1998, rusted, Chevy Equinox.
The Browns should have a very good shot, as they’ll be able to set the tone against the Dolphins and even make comebacks if necessary just by running the ball. In all of the Browns’ losses, save for the Steelers, the overriding fact is that the other team has a much better passing offense, and the Browns’ safties are anything but trustworthy. (The Steelers defense is just too stout to disrespect).
With the Dolphins, offensively speaking, they’re garbage. Not because they don’t have talent; Hill, Mike Gesicki, and Jayle Waddle are all good, they just don’t have anyone to throw them the ball. Even their backup, Teddy Bridgewater, is just a shorter Jacoby Brissett.
If the Browns lose this one, there will be riots in basements across the greater Cuyahoga County.
Browns Win: (31-3)
Record: 3-6
Away vs. Buffalo (Nov. 20)
And we suck again. The Buffalo Bills are one of the most complete teams in the NFL. I’m not as over the moon with the Buffalo Bills’ offense as others. Stefon Diggs is good, but I wouldn’t say he’s a Top 10 guy anymore. Don’t conflate production with talent. He was a Top 5 guy in Minnesota but he’s getting older, he’ll be 29 this season, and he’s taken a lot of damage.
You got Josh Allen, who I think will be in the MVP race this season, but Devin Singletary isn’t “that guy”, nor is Gabriel Davis someone you can expect big things out of yet (if ever). Dawson Knox is a solid-enough tight end, but the man just suffered a horrifying death in the family. That will likely affect him to some degree this season. You’re mostly looking at Allen throwing deep bombs to Diggs as your primary big play.
Defensively is the issue and this is where the Browns may suffer. I’m petrified of the team’s offensive line falling apart this year. Joel Bitonio is older, Jack Conklin is coming off of a major injury, Jedrick Wills has not improved and now you have a giant gaping hole at the center position.
A lot of people like to say “whoever starts will have two Pro Bowl guards next to him” but what they fail to realize is that isn’t how it works usually. Usually, it’s the bad player pulling everyone down around him. With a defense filled with guys like Greg Rousseau, Matt Milano, Jordan Poyle, Micah Hyde, and newly added Von Miller at defensive end, this is a team the Browns should hope to god they don’t face at full health.
That said, if the Browns’ offensive line is as good as it has been, regardless of whose at center, I don’t think the Bills’ offense is good enough to outpace the Browns. If the Browns can even get a decent running game going, this will be a dog fight.
I just don’t think the center position is going to be as good as people hope.
Bills Win: (21-17)
Record: 3-7
Home vs. Tampa Bay (No. 27)
Ho boy, here we go. Is Tom Brady done? Is he filming the Masked Singer? Is he having issues with his new head coach? Or is he 45 years old, the greatest quarterback ever, and doesn’t feel like doing training camp anymore? I think it’s the last one, but hey, who knows?
If Brady is for whatever reason done and doesn’t show up again this year, the Browns are going to skate to a win over the Buccaneers. They have no real ground game to begin with and many people were pegging the Bucs as a team that could use Baker Mayfield. Were they hearing something about Brady’s long-term commitment that we didn’t know about? Again, who knows? The team can’t win without Brady.
Blaine Gabbert is the backup. They’d be better off with Josh Rosen. If Brady is back, however, and is playing as well as he did in 2021, then this is yet another bad day for the Browns. It may be close if guys like Leonard Fournette are wholly ineffective or if Chris Godwin can’t bounce back from his knee injury. If they’re both on par with a healthy Brady and Mike Evans, I just don’t see the Browns being able to match score for score.
Buccaneers Win: (38-17)
Record: 3-8
What’s the rest of the schedule look like?
When Chris Fedor tweeted out that this was a lost season, I was hesitant to agree. What did the schedule say? It says “yeah, you’re boned”. So, he may have a point. I don’t think the tandem of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt is going to be all that effective. Hunt isn’t the same player he once was in Kansas City, people can keep saying he is, but ya know, stats don’t lie.
Chubb is someone that I adore, but he keeps getting injured, and older and those are concerning trends that are coupled together. If Chubb misses two or three games, are the backups really going to be able to help the dink-and-dunk passing offense produce touchdowns?
I have doubts. I also have doubts about the center and safety spots. If those doubts are unjustified during the season, let’s revisit this. If they are justified, well, you already know how it’s going to go. One bad player on the line kills a line. One bad member of the secondary kills the secondary. We’ve seen this play out several times over the last five years.
We know this is true.
What about the team once Watson comes back?
I see the Browns going 4-2. I don’t see them being a good enough team against the Ravens or Bengals, but assuming Watson does play the rest of the season, I don’t see the Commanders, Steelers, Saints, or Texans being able to keep pace with this team.
I do think it’s possible that the Browns will just shut Watson down at this point and not risk injuring him. If the team really is 3-8 heading into the last six weeks, there’s really no point in playing him.
For the final season record, I have the Browns going 7-10. Just so we’re clear, if Watson were playing (or heck, even Baker Mayfield), the Browns’ record would be 12-5. Even though this team isn’t a “great” team, in my opinion, the schedule really does benefit the Browns.
But, unless they make a hailmary trade for someone so smart that he can learn the playbook in a week, the Browns are just going to have a bad season.