Browns Jameis Winston: Tap the brakes, roller coaster ride is always possible

Jameis Winston, the Browns new signal caller, has a giant flaw

When Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson went down with what would become a season-ending Achilles injury during the Week 7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, it wasn’t 10-year veteran Jameis Winston who filled the void. It was given to Dorian Thompson-Robinson (DTR), a second-year player.

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Going into the contest, DTR was listed as the backup QB whereas Winston was declared QB3, or the emergency quarterback. The Browns were down 21-6 and had played anemic on offense all game under two different quarterbacks. Watson was having a decent game as he completed 15 passes in 17 attempts but for a minimalistic 128 yards. Thompson-Robinson subsequently led five drives and threw two interceptions while the remainder ended in a punt.

But then DTR injured a finger after tossing his second pick and being involved in the tackle. After the Bengals missed a key 50-yard field goal that would have put them two scores up, Winston came into the game with 3:43 left on the clock.

Facing a third-and-six, Winston hit receiver Jerry Jeudy for 18 yards to get to Cincinnati’s 38-yard line. Oddly enough, it was Jeudy’s first target of the game. Another long third down play, this time facing 15 yards, Winston launched a deep pass to the center of the field and connected with WR Cedric Tillman for 25 yards as the Browns were in business at their opponent’s 18.

A 12-yard completion to Elijah Moore converted a third-and-10 to the eight-yard line. Two plays later, Winston threw a high floater to TE David Njoku who made a fantastic leaping catch between three defenders along the back line of the end zone for the touchdown.

After all game long and minimal production on offense, Winston had entered the game with just under four minutes, drove the field with a 12-play drive, and after a two-point conversion, gave the Browns more points than in three-and-a-half quarters of football.

But it almost wasn’t.

After the aforementioned first down toss to Moore, now a first-and-goal on the eight-yard line with 2:09 left in the game, Winston attempted to hit Tillman in the end zone. But at the two-yard line, two Bengal defenders had an easy interception only to have the bad luck of knocking each other out of the play. Tillman had beaten them both, but the ball was a straight-line rocket instead of having an arch and zipped right near the hands of either defensive back for an incompletion instead of a pick.

Winston had just missed an interception.

Two plays later, the Njoku touchdown catch. To the average fan, Winston had accomplished what the other two quarterbacks could not do all game: sustain a drive that resulted in six points.

Fast forward to the following game against the division-leading Baltimore Ravens. Winston led the team to a stunning 29-24 win in a game that the Ravens were heavily favored. He passed for over 300 yards with three TD passes and was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week.

But there was an issue. A huge problem in fact.

Baltimore’s defense dropped three interceptions.

Any one of these three potentially would have altered the final score. (Editor’s note: To be fair, Cleveland defenders dropped a couple of would be INTs as well.) The most blatant was the dropped pick by S Kyle Hamilton on the Browns’ final drive that ended with a Tillman bomb for a touchdown with what would become the winning points. A completed catch by Hamilton would have sealed a Ravens victory.

As a Cleveland Brown, Winston has played 64 minutes of football and has four dropped interceptions.

Is anyone making a note of this?

For a majority of Browns’ fans, anyone not named Watson under center is finally a blessing. And Winston has played very well. He has been the quarterback on 11 possessions in his two games and the offense under his leadership has generated three touchdowns, three field goals, one two-point conversion, one fumble lost, one on downs (half), and just three punts. That is pretty friggin’ good.

Cleveland is known for bringing in substitute quarterbacks to play partial seasons for Watson: Jacoby Brissett in 2022, Joe Flacco for 2023, and now Winston. Unless the Browns can figure a way to unseat Watson’s guaranteed money, he will be their starter in 2025 and 2026.

One fact is certain: Winston can move this offense. The offensive line is finally healthy and played its first full game with all of their starters intact. That in itself is huge. The receivers are all being used. Njoku is getting regular targets, especially down deep where he can naturally outjump everybody. Nick Chubb is back. Kicker Dustin Hopkins is able to score points when the offense bogs down.

RELATED: A RETURN TO FORM FOR THE OFFENSE

With a new playcaller installed, this Cleveland offense may have a chance to show that they are indeed a good group. All season long under Watson, the Browns never even sniffed the 30-point threshold. Yet under Winston in his first full game, Cleveland scored 29. Only six NFL clubs have scored fewer points than the Browns.

But what kills long drives are turnovers. And Winston is the King of Turnover City.

In his career, he has played in 99 NFL games with 81 starts and has 99 interceptions. This is Winston’s 10^th NFL season. He has been the full-time starter in only five of those seasons. And in those five seasons, he threw 88 interceptions.

In the 2019 season alone, he threw for 5,109 yards on 626 pass attempts with 380 completions and 33 touchdowns, coupled with 30 interceptions.

In the NFL record book, those 30 picks got him listed seventh of “Most Interceptions in a Single NFL Season.” Winston became the first NFL quarterback in history to throw 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season. This hallmark has made him the lone member of the dubious 30/30 club in the history of the league dating back to 1920.

Six of those 30 interceptions were returned for touchdowns. That calculates to 20%. Ouch. Those pick sixes are the most since 1950.

He’s thrown the most interceptions since he entered the NFL in 2015, and he has the most three-plus interception games (11) in that same span. In the off-season of 2019, he had Lasik surgery to correct his vision.

Every Browns fan wants Winston to do well. We all desire to see this offense flourish the way we had expectations before the opening game. Now with a different perspective at the most important position on the football field, and a new play caller, perhaps this club will string along some wins and compete for a playoff seed.

But beware that Winston has a trend. Beware that he can throw wildly on occasion. He has a gunslinger mentality and can fire bullets when he is on. He is patient and will open up the passing game and start using these high-priced receivers to his advantage. Against the Ravens, four different pass catchers had over 50 yards which rarely happens in any game.

Let’s just hope that Winston’s positives will outweigh his negatives.

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