Deshaun Watson did not pretend Sunday’s 21-18 win over the Carolina Panthers erased everything that has come before it in Cleveland.
After the Browns improved to 2-1 with a late comeback at Huntington Bank Field, the quarterback spoke as someone who knows the city’s patience has been tested and still wanted fans to hear that he is not looking backward.
“I love Cleveland. This is awesome. We’ve been through some ups and downs. I wish there were better days. But looking forward, we can build off this win, come back Thursday night and get another big one, we can make something special for this city. That’s what it’s all about,” Watson said. “The past is the past. I’m present in the moment now and I enjoyed today.”
The afternoon had not been tidy. Watson finished 16 of 30 for 144 yards and two touchdowns, numbers that left room for the self-critique he offered afterward.
Cleveland trailed 18-13 when he took the field for the drive that decided the game. He said the message in the huddle was not complicated.
“I told them when I walked in the huddle. ‘Just believe in me. I’m going to make a play. Give me time, you guys play with me, react with me, and I’m going to make a play.’ We did that.”
He found Harold Fannin Jr. for a 14-yard touchdown with 1:48 remaining, then connected with Denzel Boston on the two-point conversion.
The possession was interrupted when Watson left for one play after a hit that drew a roughing-the-passer penalty. Shedeur Sanders entered, Watson returned, and the Browns finished what they started.
“At the end of the day, it’s the NFL. You have to finish it to the last zero,” Watson said. “That’s what we did.”
That closing stretch was the part fans came to see. It was also not the whole story of the afternoon.
Cleveland was flagged 12 times for 84 yards, and coach Todd Monken, while thrilled to win, made no secret of what still has to change. He said fans wanted a touchdown, not a parade of avoidable mistakes.
Watson put the same idea in plainer language when he talked about his own job. He knows the standard the building and the stands are waiting for.
“I got to make better reads,” Watson said. “They want to see a great performance and we have to give it to them. That’s why they spend their money to watch us play. Give them something to inspire the city. Go Browns.”
Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers arrives quickly. A short week leaves little time to hide from the film or from the next test. Watson’s message after the Panthers game was not that Cleveland has arrived.
It was that one late drive, one win, and a 2-1 start can still become something the city can believe in if the Browns keep finishing to the last zero.
