The Cleveland Browns scored 21 points in an NFL football game three times in 17 tries in 2025, and if you go back to 2024, they did it three times in 17 tries that year, too. By halftime of Thursday night’s game against the Steelers–Week 4–the Browns had scored 21 points and now gave themselves three straight games of 21 points or more, tying the three-game mark from the last two seasons in just four games here in 2026. Who could have imagined this after the training camp and preseason we saw from quarterback Deshaun Watson?
Remember, it was just two weeks ago, before the start of the Tampa Bay game in Week 2, that there was rampant speculation that Watson would not hold his job into Week 3 if the Browns did not win. They won, and Watson has been gutsy–if not exactly efficient–in leading the way to two straight Ws. Some have claimed he has looked like the Deshaun Watson of his days starring for the Texans, but that was well overblown. The Browns have been grinding out wins.
Deshaun Watson Hit for 60-yard Pass in 1st Half
Except that, in Week 4 against the Steelers, in building up a 21-10 halftime lead, Watson did, indeed, look like he was back in his Houston days, extending plays and escaping sacks with his legs and commanding a deep-strike offense that has been seldom seen in the recent annals of Browns history.
And there was this from ESPN stats, courtesy of Browns beat writer Daniel Oyeufi: Watson’s 60-yard pass play to Denzel Boston in the second quarter was the longest he has had for quite some time.
Wrote Oyefusi: “This is Deshaun Watson’s longest completion since Dec. 12, 2020, per ESPN Research. Watson had started slow in the first three quarters of Cleveland’s first three games, but he’s been testing Pittsburgh’s secondary tonight.”
Browns ‘Super Excited’ for Division Game
Watson clearly came out with a different mindset for this team in Week 4, and one of the hopes of the Browns coaching staffs is that he can keep doing just that while the team cleans up the whopping nine penalties accepted in the first half. This is a critical game, as both AFC North teams are 2-1.
Said Watson about the mindset coming into this rivalry matchup: “It’s huge. It’s major. It’s a great opportunity to showcase what we’re about on a big national stage. And yeah, we’re super excited. We just ultimately, as a locker room, we just stay locked in, make sure we got our craft and everything, that our game plan is, so we can go out there and execute at a high level. We’re playing a very tough opponent, experienced opponent, and we got to make sure that we have all our things locked in going into that game.”
Browns’ Deshaun Watson Hits 6-Year Milestone vs. Steelers