Deshaun Watson has multi-score start vs. Panthers

The Browns were never really a threat to win this game. The Steelers only led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, but the Browns gained nine total yards in that quarter. Even when the Browns were able to keep the game close, the Steelers always seemed to answer with a big defensive play, and Watson was sacked eight times. With the Browns trailing by two touchdowns for the entire second half, Watson was able to air it out, but of his 324 yards, 240 of them came to Harold Fannin Jr. and the two running backs. Despite the high yardage totals, it wasn’t really a great showing for Watson, who seemed flustered in the pocket and struggled to connect with his wide receivers. Things could get easier against the Saints next week though, so he remains on the QB2 radar.

Watson was evaluated after taking a hit to the head on the first drive. Shedeur Sanders played the end of the first drive, which ended in a Browns fumble, and now Watson is back in the game.

Watson was sacked on the second play of the game and then hit as he threw on the next play. The facemask of Steelers defender Jaquan Brisker hit the side of Watson’s helmet, and Watson was pulled into the blue tent for evaluation.

Watson again led the Browns to a heart-stopping fourth quarter comeback after the Titans tied the game late in the fourth quarter. Watson connected with Harold Fannin for a long gain that put the Browns in field goal range before they won the game at the buzzer. Watson targeted KC Concepcion a team high ten times, mostly on well-designed short area passes. He was seven percent over his expected completion rate — one of his best rates of the 2026 season. Watson rushed for a touchdown in the second half after being flushed out of the pocket; it was his first rushing score of the season. Watson, who now has two straight games without a passing score, should remain in superflex lineups next week against a pass-funnel Pittsburgh defense.

Watson has now taken 13 sacks over the last two weeks. The Browns’ QB1 was under pressure all afternoon by the Ravens, but found himself in position to lead a game-winning drive with 1:59 left on the game clock. Watson started the drive with a nine-yard completion to Jaleel McLaughlin, but came up big on a third-and-five when he found Jerry Jeudy for a 33-yard gain to move into Ravens territory and position his team for the game-winning field goal attempt. Three plays later, Andre Szmyt, who missed the go-ahead field goal earlier in the game, converted on a 37-yard try to propel the Browns into first place in the AFC North. It wasn’t a pretty game for Watson, but that’s nothing new. He has thrown for just 319 yards and one touchdown in his last two games and has just two touchdowns in his last three games. He shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than a low-end QB2 in next week’s road game against the Titans.

Watson also fumbled four times in rainy New Jersey conditions, somehow losing only one. Rather nonsensically drawing some “he’s back” chatter of late, Watson was indeed back this week, but just to the miserable form he’s displayed for nearly his entire Browns tenure. Alibis abounded — the weather, losing KC Concepcion to an early concussion — but Watson just wasn’t spinning a good ball, with the rather large exception of his 29-yard touchdown strike to Denzel Boston down the left sideline in the fourth quarter. That was a single-coverage thing of beauty. But other than that, Watson’s ball was fluttering and he was not making good decisions. That included on the Browns’ final play from scrimmage, a 4th-and-11 from their own 19 where Watson bafflingly did not attempt a throw, instead pulling the ball down and losing a fumble as he ambled near the sideline. Terrible. Although this will likely be an outlier performance in terms of its ineffectiveness, today was a reminder that Watson is never going to reclaim his long-ago Texans form. That should include for Week 6 against the Ravens, where Watson will struggle for superflex relevance.

Watson made very few mistakes through the air against a solid Pittsburgh defense, although a third quarter fumble on a scramble attempt and a fourth quarter interception on tipped pass at the line of scrimmage allowed the Steelers the runway to make the game interesting late. Watson also badly missed a wide open Harold Fannin on a third down play that would have allowed the Browns to ice the game, instead giving the ball back to Aaron Rodgers with under four minutes to play while up eight points. Rodgers would work his late-game magic to knot the game at 24 before Watson drove the Browns into field goal range to set up the go-ahead kick with 10 seconds on the clock. Watson had a 20-yard carry wiped from his ledger due to penalty that would have padded his counting stats further. The two turnovers notwithstanding, Watson played a largely clean game that saw the Browns improve to 3-1, currently alone atop the AFC North, pending the outcomes of the Ravens and Bengals games Sunday. The Browns turn the page to a Week 5 meeting with the Jets, where Watson will remain a surprising high-end QB2 in fantasy circles.

Per Fowler, sources around the league say Watson could get six total starts this year. The bar is low in Cleveland. Watson has not yet thrown for 240 yards in a game and has just five passing touchdowns this year. He is a QB2 against the Steelers tonight.

Watson was far more accurate than he was in Week 1’s meltdown loss to the Jaguars. He was 6.5 percent over his expected completion rate and once again hit rookie WR Denzel Boston for a long touchdown. Watson navigated the pocket well and was passably accurate on short-area throws (his 3.6 aDOT is as low as it gets for a full game’s work). His Week 2 play all but guarantees he’ll hang on to the Browns’ starting QB gig for at least a few more weeks before Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel get another shot under center. Watson will have superflex appeal in Week 3 against a gettable Carolina defense.

Schefter said it “feels like Shedeur’s time is coming” if Watson bombs in the Browns’ Week 2 matchup with the Bucs following his Week 1 collapse against Jacksonville. Sanders, in that scenario, would be under center for the Browns’ home opener against the Panthers in Week 3. Sanders, who is slightly more accurate than Watson in the short and intermediate areas, would be an upgrade for Harold Fannin and KC Concepcion. He would likely be a downgrade for downfield air yards eater Denzel Boston.