CLEVELAND — There is no drug in the NFL quite like winning. It can numb the pain of ankle sprains, heal a broken locker room and maybe even convince a 2-6 football team that the season isn’t over yet and anything is still possible.
Winning also brings clarity. In the case of the Cleveland Browns, stunning the division-leading Baltimore Ravens, 29-24, is a sobering dose of what is and what could’ve been this season.
GO DEEPER
Winston throws for 334 yards in Browns’ 29-24 win over Ravens: Takeaways
For the better part of the last month, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski kept insisting Deshaun Watson gave this football team the best chance to win. It was a lie. He knew it. We knew it. The rest of the league knew it. The townspeople knew the emperor had no clothes but the Browns marched him down East 9th anyway.
Whoever decided to keep running Watson onto the field these last few weeks simply because of his contract, whether it was Stefanski or someone above him, shoulders the blame for what has been a disastrous season. It didn’t have to be this way.
The Browns gaslighted their fan base for the last month by playing Watson and insisting he was the best option even after it became painfully evident he was broken and this wasn’t working. They inexplicably sabotaged their season before Halloween. They didn’t need to wait until Oct. 27 to hold their first lead of the month. It didn’t have to get so ugly that the fans and players turned on each other last week when a few fans cheered after Watson crumpled to the ground with a torn Achilles.
Both sides seemed to try to make amends for it on Sunday. Fans rose immediately and started chanting “J-O-K, J-O-K” when Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had his face mask removed and was strapped to a backboard following a scary neck injury. He was taken to a local hospital and had movement in all of his extremities, so all of the worst-case outcomes thankfully were avoided.
Jameis Winston, one of the loudest voices in scolding those who cheered last week, complimented the fans, unprompted, after the win.
“I really appreciate the fans for coming out here and helping us win this game,” Winston said. “We gave y’all what you wanted, hopefully.”
Jameis finds Cedric Tillman to retake the lead!
📺: #BALvsCLE on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/sjSIvER5b5— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2024
For seven weeks, the Browns were so inept on offense they couldn’t break 20 points. Watson was among the lowest-ranked quarterbacks in every metric. His few apologists who remained tried blaming the line, the receivers, the play calling and anything else they could make up to keep propping him up.
It was the quarterback. It was always the quarterback.
Yes, Stefanski relinquished play calling this week. Those I spoke to said he appeared more relaxed throughout the week and at ease, which seems counterintuitive for the coach of a team with one victory and whose seat is seemingly getting hotter by the day.
Stefanski stuck his head in positional meetings during the week, something that never really happened before. He occasionally popped into a defensive huddle on the sideline during Sunday’s victory, also a rarity when he was calling plays.
“He was able to be a head coach,” one member of the organization told me.
Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey called the plays Sunday and the receivers were just as open as they were when Stefanski held the play sheet. They just had a quarterback this time who could actually get it there.
After Watson couldn’t even break 200 passing yards in any game this season, Winston threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns in his first start.
Throw out the game at Cincinnati in the final week last year when the Browns rested their starters and this team has now thrown for 300 yards in the last five games that Watson did not start.
It’s not the play calling. It was never the play calling. It has always been the quarterback.
JAMEIS GOING FOR IT ALL!
📺: #BALvsCLE on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/hAZ6Y2r9px— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2024
Winston had his scary moments, of course. He threw a couple of passes right to Ravens players that should’ve been intercepted. It’s all part of the Jameis Experience.
But he ended Sunday with an EPA (expected points added)/play of 0.27 and the Browns had a total EPA of 12.7, far and away their best advanced metrics of the season. Watson had an EPA/play this season of -0.22, the worst in the NFL.
The linemen protected better, too. They primarily did a great job of picking up the Ravens’ relentless pass rush, with only a few exceptions. Wyatt Teller’s return at right guard certainly helped, even though he had two false starts and a holding penalty and was afraid his second false start may have cost the Browns the game. It didn’t.
Similarly, Dawand Jones’ transition to left tackle was a huge success, at least for one week. The Browns previously didn’t want to move him from the right side because they didn’t want to throw too much at him, but Jed Wills is hurt again and they were quickly running out of options. Wills can’t come back at this point. Jones played well enough to keep the job until further notice.
The line has been a disaster much of the season, prompting Mike Vrabel to dig in with the linemen the last few weeks and spend quite a bit of time with them on the sideline on Sunday. He was coaching up Jones after one early series.
Jones had been a huge disappointment after a surprisingly successful rookie year. The Browns were concerned about his maturity and keeping his weight under control. Sure enough, he was 40 pounds overweight at times early this season, ballooning up to 415 pounds. It made him a turnstile at right tackle.
To his credit, he has worked hard the last few weeks to shed the extra weight. He’s been doing extra conditioning after practice and has his weight back down around 375. If he could ever maintain a weight around 350, there are those within the team who feel he could be an elite pass-blocking left tackle. No one knows yet if either is doable.
Browns players exited the locker room Sunday with hugs and smiles, rare sightings around these parts. It has been a miserable season for even the most grizzled veterans. One win doesn’t solve a season’s worth of mistakes, but it’s a strong enough drug to numb the pain for today.
It’s also a harsh reminder of what could’ve been this year. It didn’t have to be this way.
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(Photo: Jason Miller / Getty Images)
