Dawgs By Nature
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...
