On Sunday, Sept. 13, the Browns dropped the season opener 34-10 to the Jaguars, with a mix of coaching decisions, defensive miscues and offensive struggles plaguing the team all day long. To be frank, the Browns didn’t look ready for the season. <\/p>\n
Watson finished the game with 16 completions on 22 attempts, throwing for 205 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also posted a 97.7 quarterback rating. <\/a><\/p>\n However, his final numbers don’t show the full story.<\/p>\n And while it was nice to see him end up in a somewhat decent spot statistically, most of his damage came late in the game when the Jaguars had already put in the backups. <\/p>\n Deshaun Watson\u2019s final stat line was inflated by facing the Jaguars backups in garbage time. Prior to the Browns two drives in the fourth quarter, Watson was:<\/p>\n – 11\/17 He should not be a starting QB in the NFL. pic.twitter.com\/x9seMjYwep<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The Dawgs – A Cleveland Browns Podcast (@thedawgspodcast) September 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Prior to the Browns’ two fourth-quarter drives, Watson had thrown for just 100 yards and one interception on 11 completions. <\/p>\n When the game was pretty much already put to bed, he turned it up a notch, connecting on a few passes before launching a 46-yard touchdown to rookie wideout Denzel Boston. It was nice to see a deep shot be connected on, but it came far too late to play any sort of role in the result.<\/p>\n Instead, it just padded Watson’s final numbers. <\/p>\n While at least getting a score on the board will be nice to build some confidence heading into next week’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, thinking Watson played a good game because his statistics say so just isn’t correct.<\/p>\n Fortunately, Watson understands that his season debut wasn’t the best showing, and in his postgame press conference, he shared that sentiment. <\/p>\n “Of course everyone is going to look at the quarterback in this situation,” he said. “Overall, I haven’t even looked at the box score or stats, but yeah, we have to put points on the board, and that’s what you have to do in this league.”<\/p>\n #Browns<\/a> QB Deshaun Watson on the Browns’ offense:<\/p>\n “Of course everyone is going to look at the quarterback in this situation. Overall, I haven’t even looked at the box score or stats, but yeah, we have to put points on the board, and that’s what you have to do in this league.” pic.twitter.com\/kGYhhZyrvE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ashly Holder (@AshNoelleTV) September 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Watson has been off the field for quite some time,<\/a> so struggles are going to arise, especially as he works to get his arm back in form and his feet underneath him.<\/p>\n Being able to fully overcome those struggles, though, will require him to take accountability for some of the responsibility he carries for the loss.<\/p>\n “Bad plays are going to happen all the time,” he continued. “Look all around the league. Everyone throws interceptions, everyone makes bad plays. You\u2019ve got to give the defense credit.”<\/p>\n Watson will have all week to work his way back from Sunday’s defeat, as the Browns begin preparing to clash against the Buccaneers. <\/p>\n The two sides will meet from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, Sept. 20.<\/p>\n
– 100 yards
– 0 TD
– 1 INT
– 5.8 YPA<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
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