Deshaun Watson had a miserable first quarter against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, forcing the Cleveland Browns to fight from behind from the start.
Watson tossed a pick-six on the second play of the game, with Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton deflecting a pass and then snagging it, taking it back 18 yards for a touchdown.
It didn’t get much better for Watson during the first quarter. The Browns’ $230 million quarterback completed 1 of 9 passes in the first quarter (11.1%) — the worst completion percentage in any quarter in his career, per ESPN.
Fans let Watson hear it on social media following his miserable start.
“Please tell me how Baker Mayfield would be worse than a 6.3 rating and $230,000,000 less?” one Browns backer wrote. “Deshaun Watson needs to figure it out fast when it comes to these games.”
The Browns gave up three first-round picks to land Watson in 2022 to be their quarterback of the future. It hasn’t panned out for Cleveland.
“Dude. The Texans fleeced the Browns. Maybe the fleecing of a century,” one fan tweeted. “Stroud, Anderson and Stingley. Browns got the Ghost of Deshaun Watson. Unbelievable.”
Watson finished the first half 6-of-20 for 79 yards and an interception. His QB rating rose slightly to 22.7.
Browns Fans Missing Joshua Dobbs
Mayfield was not the only former Browns quarterback that fans in Cleveland were missing. While the Browns were fighting behind against the Ravens, Joshua Dobbs had the Minnesota Vikings up comfortably against the New Orleans Saints. He accounted for a pair of touchdowns and 220 yards in the first half and the Vikings led 24-3 against the Saints after 30 minutes of play.
“Josh Dobbs is playing how the Browns thought Deshaun Watson would,” Hayden Grove of cleveland.com tweeted.
Dobbs was slated to be the Browns’ backup at the start of the year but the Browns traded him to the Arizona Cardinals for a fifth-round pick.
“The Browns traded 3x 1st round picks, a 3rd and a 4th for Deshaun Watson AND gave him a $230m guaranteed contract,” Sam Monson of PFF tweeted. “And [at the moment] it’s not immediately clear that he’s better than Josh Dobbs, who the team traded away for a 5th-round pick.”
Watson also had a miscommunication on a deep ball to rookie Cedric Tillman. It fell harmlessly incomplete and some didn’t like how Watson reacted after the play, pointing to where he thought Tillman should have been.
“Deshaun Watson’s now showing up his receivers,” a fan wrote. “He wants to make sure everyone knows it was Tillman’s fault for running a bad route, not his horrible throw.”
Deshaun Watson Said Shoulder Is ‘Work in Progress’
Watson missed the better part of four games with a rotator cuff strain. He returned on Nov. 5 against the Cardinals, but not much was asked of him with the Browns’ defense pitching a shutout.
Watson pointed out this week that his shoulder is still not 100 percent and it’s going to take some time for him to feel like his old self.
“Every day it’s a work in progress,” Watson said on Wednesday, November 9. “It’s a deal that I’m going to continue to have to work and focus on each and every day to make sure that I just try to get as strong as possible and as healthy as I possibly can.
“My biggest thing is just trying to be the best version I can be each and every day.”
The Browns removed him for an end-of-half heave to the end zone, inserting PJ Walker.
Watson didn’t appear to trust his arm against the Ravens. He rarely stayed in the pocket to throw passes and tried to use his legs to make plays. Watson also did little to protect himself, taking a bevy of big hits from the Ravens’ defense.
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Browns QB Deshaun Watson Ripped for 1st Half Performance Against Ravens