The Cleveland Browns did not shower themselves in glory during the embarrassing 34-10 blowout loss in the NFL season opener against the Jaguars on Sunday, as a tough beginning to the game–an interception from quarterback Deshaun Watson on the first drive–pretty well established the tenor of the afternoon. The Browns were picked apart by Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence over the course of the game, and allowed him four touchdowns and a 150.6 rating while sacking him just once.
Watson followed his first interception on the opening drive by nearly throwing another on the Browns’ second drive, which ended in a punt. He later fumbled later in the first half, but then recovered it. To say Watson looked rusty on the day after nearly two years off recovering from two Achilles tendon surgeries would be generous. A harsher critic would say he looked like a spent force, a guy whose next stop is early retirement.
‘Deshaun Watson Needs to Be Under Investigation’
For former star running back LeSean McCoy, now an analyst and one of the hosts of “The Speakeasy” podcast, there may be something darker going on with Watson after seeing his Browns performance on Sunday. McCoy, maybe only half-jokingly, said Watson’s performance bears the marks of a player trying intentionally to lose, perhaps with some financial backing.
Said McCoy: “I ain’t trying to start this. But Deshaun Watson needs to be under investigation for point-shaving because we’ve been seeing it. We’ve watched Terry Rozier do it. We’re watching it in basketball. It’s happening in football. You think he’s rich? He’s trying to get richer.
“Telling you, check with a bookie near you. Deshaun Watson is on the loose.”
Browns Paying Out $233 Million Contract
Indeed, Rozier is up on federal gambling charges, but to suggest that Watson was so bad for the Browns on Sunday only because he is a pawn in a wider potential game-fixing scheme ignores the fact that Watson was not great throughout the training camp, and that he might not intentionally be trying to lose. He might just be a very bad quarterback who does not need schemes to lose–he just loses.
To an extent, McCoy acknowledged that. It is hard, after all, to bribe someone into a throwing a game or shaving points when that person is on a $233 million guaranteed contract.
Said McCoy: “After a while, they’re going to have the whole Browns offensive meeting room full of investigations, what’s going on with this quarterback? You can’t tell me he ain’t playing for the other team. The game just started! …
“If anybody asks you about Deshaun, ‘What you want me to say about him?’ That’s my line.
The way I’m watching you play the game, what do you want me to say about that? You’re throwing picks to him, you’re throwing picks to him. You fumble the ball here. What do you want me to say?”
Browns’ Deshaun Watson ‘Needs to be Under Investigation’ by NFL: Ex-All Pro