Cleveland, OH
Oh no, Cleveland Browns Quarterback Deshaun Watson Sucks Again, But There Are Excuses
What’s the excuse now, Deshaun Watson?
It cannot be rust anymore, because it’s been years since you joined the Cleveland Browns after being shelved by the Houston Texans.
It cannot be the weight of all those lawsuits for sexual harassment and an NFL suspension on your mind because that came in 2022, when you finally had a chance to start earning your milestone contract with the Browns.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 08: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns is tackled by Damone Clark #18 of the Dallas Cowboys during the second half at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 08, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
Watson Says He’s Same QB As Always
And it cannot be an injury, like it was last season in which you were knocked from the lineup by series of curious circumstances, all of them concerning your throwing shoulder.
So what is it now?
Why are you, Deshaun Watson, a sub-par NFL quarterback and a shadow of the player you were in 2020 when everything looked so amazing?
“I’ll always be Deshaun Watson, regardless of whoever else says otherwise,” Watson said Sunday evening after the 33-17 loss to the Cowboys that left most of the Browns embarrassed. “…You’re going to have days like this. We all have days like this when we you’re playing this type of game.
“That’s just part of what comes with it. It comes with the territory, and especially in my position.”
CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 08: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns is hit by Marshawn Kneeland #94 of the Dallas Cowboys as he throws the ball in the third quarter of the game at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 08, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
Watson Acquisition Gets More Questionable
Watson’s position was set by the Browns when they signed the quarterback to an unprecedented fully guaranteed $230 million contract in 2022. That deal means Watson cannot be cut because it would wreck Cleveland’s salary cap.
The Browns are on the hook for a $72.9 million salary cap charge on Watson each of the next two seasons.
And he cannot be traded because, well, nobody is trading for a player that has been struggling for a couple of years with that contract.
Did we mention the Browns gave up three first-round draft picks to acquire Watson before they handed him the keys to a bank vault?
So, Watson has to perform. Must perform.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 08: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns fumbles the ball as he is hit by DeMarcus Lawrence #90 of the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth quarter of the game at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 08, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
A Watson Stinker Vs. Cowboys
But he isn’t performing. He completed 24 of 45 passes for only 169 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in this loss.
It was a stinker.
“Much is given, much is required,” Watson himself said, sort of quoting Scripture. “So, you know, got to add a little bit more to whatever it is. We didn’t have enough this week. And we got to make sure we have enough next week to get on the right page.”
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said during training camp that Watson had “attacked” the rehab connected to last season’s shoulder injury.
On Sunday the Dallas defense attacked Watson. The Cowboys pressured Watson 25 times, including six sacks on 56 dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 08: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns throws the ball in the third quarter of the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 08, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
Watson wilted against that pressure. He completed only 5 of 17 passes for 22 yards while throwing under pressure.
“It’s frustrating,” receiver Amari Cooper told reporters. “You always want to protect your quarterback, especially like you just mentioned, coming off a surgery. Obviously, he’s been rehabbing well but don’t want the quarterback to get hit too much.
“I think he got hit a little bit too much.”
And there it is. The excuse
Watson was sacked six times. And, obviously, a lot of that was a protection breakdown.
“We cannot let our quarterback get hit that often,” Stefanski said. “Period.”
But some of that was Watson showing a lack of awareness.
Like the time on fourth down he rolled right and rather than throwing the ball somewhere, anywhere, because it was fourth down, he held the ball and took the sack.
Watson Missed Opportunities
There was also an issue with those hits affecting Watson. Stefanski said Watson “battled” but he seemed quite more interested in getting out of the pocket than more often hanging in there and delivering an accurate throw.
One of those occasions was when Watson vacated the pocket as Cooper cut across the middle of the field wide, wide open. Watson obviously didn’t see him.
This is not the same Watson who played for the Houston Texans and was an MVP candidate in 2020 when he threw 33 TD passes against only seven interceptions and collected 4,823 passing yards.
On Sunday that dude was not playing quarterback for the Browns. It was some other guy. Some lesser player.
Ironically, in suggesting a possible rebound to what happened Sunday, Watson recalled his Houston days.
“It’s the NFL, anything can happen,” Watson said. “I started 0-4 in 2018. We won 11 straight … Anything can happen, anything is possible.”
CLEVELAND — For the first time in U.S. history, a Navy warship will be commissioned in Ohio.
Commissioning a ship is a time-honored naval tradition that formally places a ship into active duty.
The USS Cleveland arrived in its namesake city on Saturday, coasting into Cleveland’s North Coast Yard. It’s the fourth ship in U.S. Navy history to bear the name Cleveland.
“It’s a little bit bigger than a flight deck. About 25% bigger,” said Commanding Officer Bruce Hallett. “And it’s higher up, the water makes it a little easier for pilots to be able to land on it. So they like it.”
Hallett has served with the Navy for more than 20 years.
“There are up and overs. So these flags are actually single flags. So we have quartermasters on board,” Hallett said of the colorful flags seen across the ship. “So they can use these to send signals to other ships. But in this capacity right here, they’re just purely for decoration.”
Inside the ship, the decorations pay homage to Cleveland, with two murals in the waterborne mission zone depicting key landmarks and Cleveland Browns signs in the gym.
“It’s all swagged out with all kinds of Cleveland Browns stuff new,” said Hallett. “We got the colors down there, the flags, the towels. It looks phenomenal. And the crew loves it.”
Sailors have been touring the city throughout the week, and Executive Officer Adam Cline has been coordinating community relations events with the crew. He sent two specific sailors to City Hall.
“We have two members of our crew that are from Cleveland,” Hall said. “That’s where they grew up. So it was real nice to incorporate them into that and to get a great memento from the city, a nice flag for us.”
The USS Cleveland will be commissioned Saturday and then head to its home port of Florida. When the ship eventually retires, the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation hopes to bring it back to become a museum.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A U.S. Navy warship will be commissioned in Ohio on Saturday for the first time in 250 years.
The USS Cleveland is docked on Lake Erie ahead of the 10 a.m. ceremony.
Commander Bruce Hallett has commanded the USS Cleveland for more than two years.
“It is extremely exciting to be able to bring the USS Cleveland here to Cleveland and to be able to commission this ship here — obviously to introduce it to the city so that they can see the ship that bears their name,” Hallett said. “This has been a long time coming.”
The ship’s hallways are named after Cleveland streets, including East 9th and St. Clair Avenue.
A mural honoring the city of Cleveland is displayed on board. The Navy says it is rare to see something like this on a warship.
“Amazing mural, right? We’re so proud to have that on board,” Hallett said. “We’re just pretty much in awe when we saw all the stuff that we have in the city, and now we have it as part of the Cleveland. We love it as a crew.”
The ship’s weight room was outfitted by the Cleveland Browns with flags, towels, and mats.
“The Browns came and added their own touches to that weight room,” Hallett said. “So it’s all swagged out with all kinds of Cleveland Browns stuff now.”
The ship carries a crew of about 90, including two sailors who grew up in Cleveland.
The USS Cleveland is the final Freedom-variant littoral combat ship to be commissioned in the U.S. Navy.
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
A trio of locally made films will grace area screens, here is your Movie Nerd Report for the week of May 11-17.
Thursday evening will bring the red-carpet premiere of “The Last Shop On Walnut” at the Cedar Lee Theatre (2163 Lee Rd Cleveland Heights, OH 44118) . The film, which was written and directed by Jason Richardson, was mostly shot in Ravenna. It stars Peter Lawson Jones and Cleveland native Kym Whitley. The screening will benefit the Charles & Margaret Jones Endowed Scholarship Fund at College Now. Tickets can be found at this link.
Can’t make the premiere? The Cedar Lee will be playing the film for at least a full week starting Friday!
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“Blood & Rust” the debut feature from Kent State alumni Jeremy Herbert, will be coming to Cranked Up TV on May 19 and The Ashland Cinema (212 Center Street Ashland, OH 44805) will be offering a screening of it this Friday evening at 7 p.m., and it is free!
Sunday at 3:30 p.m. the Capitol Theatre (1390 W.65th Street Cleveland, OH 44102) will present the directorial debut of Frank Calo IV in “Last Call”. Sounds like this one is poised to sell out so click here to grab your tickets.
Over at the Cleveland Cinematheque (11610 Euclid Ave Cleveland, OH 44118) :
Cleveland is fortunate to be one of the five select cities of the Future of Film Is Female Series which highlights films from female and nonbinary filmmakers. The first film in this series kicks off Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with the Midwest road trip film, “Dreams In Nightmares.”
Thursday at 9 p.m. and Friday at 9 p.m. they will present a 4K Restoration of the Dutch classic “Malpertius,” which features Orson Welles.
Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4:30 p.m. they will present the Italian dramedy “The Last One For The Road.”
Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:35 p.m. they will present a documentary that explores the effects of colonialism on Northern Argentina in “Our Land.”
Saturday at 8:50 p.m. and Sunday at 5:45 p.m. they will present a 4K Restoration of the Argentinian film “The Headless Woman”
Sunday at 3:30 p.m. they will present the documentary “Four Rational People,” which looks at the Emerson String Quartet’s final performance.
More information about the films and ticket prices are at: cinematheque.cia.edu
At the Nightlight Cinema (30 N High Street Akron, OH 44308):
One of the most acclaimed films of the year is the Canadian drama “Blue Herron,” it is the feature debut of Sophy Romvari, who gained attention for her short films.
They also will be playing the documentary “Steal This Story, Please,” which highlights independent investigative journalist Amy Goodman.
More Information about the films and ticket prices are at: nightlightcinema.com
This weekend there are a trio of new films opening in wide release: The first is one that I would recommend if you are a horror fan – “Obsession”. This film continues a trend where we are seeing Youtubers become filmmakers, in this case it is 26-year-old Curry Barker. This is a spin on “be careful what you wish for” when a young man makes a wish for his crush to love him more than anything else in the world, and it gets increasingly disturbing from there. I personally loved it and thought the performance from actress Inde Navarrette will make her a star.
“Is God Is” is a revenge tale which was based on an award-winning play by Alesha Harris. Harris makes her feature directorial debut and currently the film stands at 95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!
The other film opening is the latest from director Guy Ritchie, the action-thriller “In The Grey” with Jake Gyllenhall and Henry Cavill.
Rounding out this busy week are some anniversaries hitting screens in “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” for one week to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Tony Scott’s original, and the original “Shrek” is also playing for one week to commemorate its 25th Anniversary (Anniversaries like this are making your resident movie nerd feel old!).
Lastly, I just wanted to wish congratulations to my longtime friend Dave Huffman, who has just been named the new director of The Cleveland Cinematheque! If you have ever attended some of the Late Shift Series back in the day at the Cedar Lee or Capitol, or the 12 Hours of Terror, you know that Dave is a huge cinephile and I am certain will do a great job at the Cinematheque!
Until next week my friends, see ya at the movies!
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