Deshaun Watson returned to action for the Browns and played well in a 27-0 win at home vs the Cardinals. Brendan Gulick and Anthony Moeglin break down his performance in this Browns Digest video.
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:07 >> Brendan Gulick and
00:08 Anthony Meglin with you on Browns Digest after a 27 to nothing win.
00:13 For the Cleveland Browns over an Arizona Cardinals team that did not play very
00:17 good football today.
00:18 And maybe it was the right kind of get right game that Deshaun Watson needed.
00:23 Deshaun figured out a way to play pretty well.
00:27 I don't know that it was the kind of game that he's gonna say, hey,
00:30 that's going on my career highlight reel.
00:32 But ultimately 19 of 30 for 219 yards, two touchdowns,
00:36 he did not turn the ball over.
00:38 And Anthony, the Browns are seven and four now in games that Deshaun Watson is
00:42 the starting quarterback.
00:44 What'd you think today?
00:45 >> And I'll tell you what, it was a slow start, which you kind of expected, right?
00:50 Just kind of felt a little clunky.
00:51 And then he kind of started to see it kind of come together,
00:54 especially towards the end of the game.
00:57 I thought he was not very decisive, wasn't quite seeing it really well.
01:01 And I'm excited to get the all 22 tape to see what he missed on some of
01:05 the decisions when he would kind of scramble out or maybe check it down.
01:08 However, you just love a couple things.
01:11 You love no turnovers.
01:12 That's the first time in a long time, well, first time since week three,
01:15 that the quarterback did not turn the football over.
01:18 So that's a huge win.
01:20 The second big win was that he was throwing the ball down the field with
01:24 great velocity.
01:25 We can cut the zip talk out next week on X and on Twitter.
01:28 I think that discussion is gone because he was ripping that thing around the field.
01:32 And you could tell he still has that arm strength.
01:35 Then as the third quarter and fourth quarter came around,
01:38 I thought the accuracy was back.
01:40 You think about that throw to Amari up the sidelines.
01:44 We're gonna see that the rest of the year.
01:46 That you talk about a highlight tape, that was like a perfect throw.
01:49 And it's great to see that he has that in the tank.
01:51 The accuracy still can improve, but you finished the day 63%,
01:54 throwing over for over 200 yards and two scores, no interceptions.
01:58 I think it was a solid day for him.
01:59 >> Yeah, I mean, I think I give him a solid B.
02:02 I thought he played above average.
02:05 And the fact that he didn't turn it over was the most important part to me.
02:08 Arizona played a lot of too high shell zone.
02:13 And so it was hard for him to take deep shots that were legitimately open.
02:18 And as a fan, maybe that's a little frustrating when you see guys checking it
02:20 down with some regularity, but I thought he took what the game gave him.
02:25 He certainly didn't have a perfect game.
02:27 I mean, he made some throws that were frustrating.
02:29 But the three that stand out are certainly the three big ones, right?
02:33 I mean, the one for 59 yards in the first half to Amari Cooper
02:38 was absolute perfection.
02:41 The second one, at least if we're going in sequential order,
02:43 the second one was the right read over the middle, the Marquise Goodwin.
02:47 And I hate that Marquise got hurt on that play.
02:50 But I still thought it was a pretty good throw.
02:53 And Kevin Stefanski joked with us in the post game press conference room that
02:57 the last one was actually one that Amari and DeSean drew up in the dirt with him,
03:02 based on what they had been seeing previously on third down coverages.
03:06 And it was executed perfectly, a 50 yard strike, it was officially 49.
03:11 But perfect throw right on the money down the right side.
03:15 Those are the kinds of things that I don't mean to be this terse about it.
03:20 But when you're paying a quarterback, the kind of money the Browns are paying
03:23 to Sean Watson, they expect those kinds of plays to regularly hit.
03:26 It's nice to see it happen.
03:28 >> And they did today.
03:29 And one of my favorite throws was not the long ones.
03:31 I thought those ones to Amari were fantastic.
03:33 One of my favorites, honestly, was the third down to David for
03:36 the touchdown, because I thought that was so big.
03:38 You're struggling a little bit, you get the huge turnover.
03:41 And if you kick a field goal there, that's really deflating, not for the game.
03:44 It wouldn't have mattered ultimately in the game.
03:46 But that was when you want to punch in.
03:48 And it was kind of got a blitz off that front side and David saw it perfectly.
03:52 Kind of knew he was the hot route.
03:54 He gave him his numbers.
03:56 The shot hit him right between the eight and the five in the end zone.
03:58 It was like exactly what you wanted to see on third down.
04:01 It was such good growth, in my opinion, of them building that chemistry.
04:05 And then also I love when the chief scores.
04:06 He does everything right for this team.
04:08 He loves this team.
04:09 I love seeing him in pay dirt doing the chief slam.
04:11 It's the best.
04:11 So thought that one honestly was one of my favorite throws of the afternoon.
04:15 >> Yeah, really a solid day for Deshaun Watson in the offense,
04:19 in a dominating one sided win for the Cleveland Browns, 27 to nothing.
04:24 Cleveland's first shutout win in a long, long time.
04:29 December of 2007, the Blizzard Bowl here at home against Buffalo was 8-0 that day.
04:36 Cleveland today much more impressive in 27 to nothing under what were sunny skies
04:40 earlier, but now have darkened a little bit.
04:43 For Anthony Meglan and Brendan Gulick, hang out with us more on BrownsDigest.com.
04:48 Certainly would appreciate it if you'd subscribe to this YouTube channel as well,
04:50 so we can keep bringing you content just like this.
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