CLEVELAND, Ohio — Deshaun Watson has taken plenty of criticism for missing some open receivers during Sunday’s 21-15 upset by the Giants, but just how well is he seeing the field this season?
With Watson being sacked a career high eight times and hit a total of 17, it’s tough to separate the protection breakdowns from the errant throws, but Kevin Stefanski took the onus off of his embattled quarterback and spread the blame around equally for the collective meltdown.
“I think he sees the field really well,” Stefanski said Monday during his video conference. “He’s a veteran that’s played in a bunch of games who understands different looks, sees it before we even talk about it on the sideline as he’s come coming off. So I think it’s certainly — we have to play better as an offense. That’s really our main focus.”
Under siege all afternoon thanks to far more blitzes, stunts and games than the Giants had shown in their previous two losses, Watson went 21 of 37 for 196 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for an 89.5 rating. He also ran four times for 26 yards, and was strip-sacked once for a turnover that led to Malik Nabers’ 5-yard TD catch with 11 second left in the half for a 21-7 Giants command.
But Watson still had three chances to pull it out in the fourth quarter, and mistakes killed each one of those drives, including an apparent one by Watson on fourth and 1 from the Browns’ 29. On an RPO, Watson believed his receivers were covered, and pulled it in and ran. He was stopped short of the first down.
“I was just trying to reach,” he said. “I mean, the play was to RPO, read the ‘Mike’ or read the ‘Will’, 41 (Micah McFadden). 41 ran with the running back. Pull, throw the slant behind it. Slant wasn’t there. I guess they had a collision and, you know, just after that, I’m not fixing to just throw it covered. So try to get the first down, was one yard and they stopped it short.”
A review of the play shows that tight end Jordan Akins may have been open in the right flat, but Watson didn’t throw it.
“Yeah, we tried a play,” Stefanski said. “We tried earlier in the game, obviously, we can be better. But I know it’s very easy for all of us to say, ‘hey, throw it here’. That’s a tough job that those guys have and I thought Deshaun made a bunch of plays for us. Was putting us in position to try and go make a play to win the game. So there’s going to be plays that he wants back. I know there’s plays I want back, but I think it’s really easy to play that game of, ‘could have done this, would have done that.’ We all have to have to be better.”
Akins also defended Watson on the play.
“I mean, it’s RPO,” he said. “At the end of the day, he can give it, he can pass it. All of us were in the right positions when it came down to that play. We just trust Deshaun to make the best play, have the best outcome of that play. Like I say, that defense stunted so much and even sometimes they (pass) dropped, so it can be confusing. You just can’t put it all on Deshaun. We definitely wish we could have that play back, but at the end of the day it is a RPO, so we can run it or he can throw it and next time we’ll execute it.”
Watson was also criticized on the Fox broadcast for holding the ball too long at times, which he often does because he knows he can slip out of trouble. Once again, Stefanski spread the blame evenly. Watson has been sacked a league-high 16 times, the most for a Browns quarterback in his first three games of a season since the 1970 merger, according to ESPN research.
“When you’re talking about protection, it’s everybody,” Stefanski said. “It’s from myself, the coaches, the offensive line, tight ends, running backs, wide receivers, quarterbacks. It’s everybody. And everybody has a job to do in order to keep the quarterback clean. So I’ve got to do my part. It’s no secret we can’t let him get hit that many times. That’s not good enough and that will get fixed.”
After the game, Watson lamented that the Giants showed different coverage looks and more blitzing than the Browns were expecting. Through their first two games, they had blitzed on 25% of their opponent’s dropbacks, but more than doubled that to 57% against the Browns, according to ESPN research. But Stefanski didn’t necessarily disagree with Watson.
“Early in the season, we’re only three games into these things, so breaking tendencies is a big part of, as you get to know, offenses and defenses when you’re game planning,” he said. “So they definitely pressured more than they had in the first couple, but that was pretty apparent early that that was their game plan. So you’re always trying to figure out in these games what teams are going to lean into. Whether it’s going to be more coverage, more pressure, whatever it may be. There’s looks that you often see that you don’t game plan for, especially early in the season, and then you just have to make the adjustment in game.”
Akins agreed that the strategy caught the Browns off guard, but that they could’ve picked it up better as the game went along.
“They definitely came out smoking, man,” he said. “They were blitzing left and right, left and right. Once they saw that they were successful in it, they picked it up a little bit. So we just had to make some adjustments and we just can do a better job in executing.”
Stefanski refused to use the offensive line woes as an excuse. And it won’t be any easier on Sunday in Las Vegas with All-Pro right guard Wyatt Teller out with his sprained MCL, and Jed Wills Jr., Dawand Jones and James Hudson III ailing with their injuries. Wills aggravated his knee during the game, and Hudson suffered a shoulder injury. Both underwent MRIs on Monday, and their status is uncertain. Tackle Jack Conklin was scratched on Saturday after suffering a hamstring injury on Friday, and his status is in doubt too.
“I think that’s the NFL for you,” Stefanski said. “Week to week, certain guys are going to be unavailable or you’re going to go up against a different rusher than you saw the week before. So that’s our job, just to find ways to be efficient, find ways to be explosive, regardless of the challenges that you may have.”
On the brighter side, tight end David Njoku (ankle) could be back this week, and he’ll be a big help in yards-after-catch as well as blocking.
“I’ll know more probably on Wednesday,” Stefanski said.
Akins has been down this road with Watson before, when they played together in Houston.
“I mean it’s nothing that he’s not used to,” he said. “Back in Houston, we started real slow. We started out 0-3 (in 2018). We flipped it around and won 11 straight. So we’ve just got to make some adjustments. We’ve got to keep him positive and just hopefully he makes some big-time plays for us.”
They must also keep him upright.
“The play’s never dead when Deshaun has the ball in his hands,” he said. “We just have to protect him better so he can keep his eyes down field and make those throws.”
