And So Ends The Deshaun Watson Era

 

When Watson went down with that Achilles tear, I am not proud to admit my initial reaction was giddy excitement.  I try to be a good human being and understand that all people deserve empathy, but that dude strains it to the absolute limit.  I don't think that it is proper to cheer a player when he is injured, regardless of what kind of sociopath lowest common denominator the guy is, but I can't tell you what I would have done standing in that stadium six beers deep in Section 575 when Watson folded to the turf.  It was a natural reaction in the stadium, that's for sure.  Again, it's not like Watson has endeared himself to the community since he's been here, unless of course I have wildly miscalculated on the level of enthusiasm the people have for his shitty cheesesteak franchise he opened.  Tough day for Watson.  What must that have felt like for him waiting to get introduced right before Nick Chubb?  That's a tough situation knowing how bad you'll get booed right before ecstatic cheering for Chubb.  Then again, after yet another offseason spent on social media rubbing his lack of professionalism and obscene consumerism in the face of anyone that wandered across his profile, fuck that guy.

Against the Bengals, Watson once again showed his inability to make even basic NFL throws dooms his team to failure.  I suspect his football career for all intents and purposes ended with that snapped tendon on the lakefront.  I can't imagine him rehabbing with the dedication of Nick Chubb.  I see him rehabbing with the intensity of a Naples FL personal injury attorney after a pickleball mishap.  Deshaun Watson might be on the Browns salary cap, but it's unlikely he ever plays another game in Cleveland, or anywhere else for that matter.  His exit from public life came with him crying on a golf cart.  Damn.  The NFL is a cruel monster.  

Here's the downside... The team doesn't appear to have a QB.  An important issue was raised with DTR trotting out to play the rest of the game.  First off, I can't believe that DTR is the #2 quarterback as he wasn't an impressive college QB and he's never shown much in the NFL.  Second, if he's the #2 does that mean he's been consistently better than Winston in practice?  This leads to to obvious question... What if when Kevin Stefanski said, "Watson gives us the best chance to win", he wasn't bullshitting?  Robinson was locked in a heated battle to beat out PJ Walker last year.  Ummm, that ain't good.  So, on one hand, I was happy to see Watson no longer behind center, on the other hand I was thinking "Oh fuck, did this somehow just get worse?".  Let's just say the offense didn't exactly look "crisp".

It is astounding how many mental error penalties the Browns get on offense.  Can we find a scapegoat on that as soon as possible?  Personally, I am in favor of Ken Dorsey as the scapegoat as he was a shitty QB here in Cleveland, sucked as an OC in Buffalo, got fired, the Bills got better, and then Dorsey landed here to destroy our dreams.  The Browns front office last year, after having a Top 10 offense, said "let's keep most of the same players, but bring in a new coaching staff to install a system that didn't work in Buffalo.".  I'm not an analytics expert like Paul Depodesta (a man who most people think is Jonah Hill but in reality has "consulted" mostly disappointing baseball teams and now one downtrodden NFL team) but my "analysis" of that situation is "if you bring in some dude that sucks, he will probably suck here too".  Exhibit A is currently 1-6 and can't score 20 points.

The season is lost.  Hopefully they start Jameis as at least he's fun.  The focus now is on whatever that grift is the carpetbaggers have going with this Stadium Scam.  The stadium announcement was Pure Haslam, sort of the business version of "Full Weedon".  The Browns break off from the city negotiations to say they are definitely building a giant dome complex supercenter truckstop shit show in Brook Park.  This idea is built on the usual fallacy that if we spend $2B on a tax free money machine for billionaire owners, the community will receive untold riches in "trickle down" jobs and exciting "other" events.  I don't know if you looked, but almost no concerts play in stadiums any longer because these events don't really exist.  Who can fill a stadium?  Taylor Swift?  A Billy Joel package?  Some Metallica metal festival?  U2?  Some fucking shitty country act?  OK.  That's $2B to make a place for 13 annual events.  What's going to happen there the other 350 days?

The other key part of that "big" stadium announcement was that I can't recall anyone saying who was paying for it.  The County Commissioner went out of his way to say in so many words "we ain't paying for that.".  The Mayor said "We'll give ya $500M to fix the current one, but that's all we got.  And you don't own that Lakefront land you fucking grifters."  Based on what we know about the Haslams ability to build a team, run truckstops, and negotiate QB contracts, why would we want them involved with civic planning?  To me, it's crystal clear.  Instead of giving these fuckers $1B to build a no tax money machine so they can give us shitty football, let's invoke the Modell rule and just buy the team from them.  Brady just bought in on a team, so it must be a good investment.  Let's shove the Tennessee hucksters back south, and have civic ownership of the team so we can make our own stupid mistakes.  Sell the team.  You don't know what you are doing.  Get out.  Go home.  LET'S BUY THE TEAM.

As far as the Browns?  Look, this is over.  I hope we get mostly Winston starts.  Maybe we win a few games.  The draft is only six months away.  We will get our next doomed savior in house in no time.  The Ravens are next week, and I don't think any of us are optimistic.  The team is terrible.  Think of it this way though...  The Browns are done, but they aren't any more done than they were on Opening Day.  It's just obvious now.  We can all stop the facade that Watson is going to turn it around and everything will be great.  It's time for yet another Rebuild.  We aren't looking for wins now, but games that are close enough to be entertaining while we solidify the #1 overall pick.  The upside is you don't have to feel squeamish now clapping when a pass gets completed.  You can root for the quarterback again, whoever he is.   

 Go Browns.