The Cleveland Browns are 4-2 and somehow, someway, they’re leading the AFC North by tiebreaker. It’s Week 6, and that record is better than the entire NFC South and East, better than the supposed super-team Rams, and yes, even better than our own defending champion Seahawks. The Browns, first place in their division this late in a season? You almost have to cringe just saying it, considering how long it’s been since 2014.
What Is Even Happening With The Cleveland Browns?
For what feels like forever, it’s been a universal truth that the Browns would always, always be terrible. Like the sun rising or knowing that those old Star Wars movies hit different when you were a kid, it was just *fact*. So when that bedrock truth gets shattered, what do we even do? This team came into the season looking like a donut, loaded with talent everywhere *but* at quarterback, a problem that’s haunted them for decades. They stockpiled draft picks, they used them wisely, and yet Shedeur Sanders wasn’t it. Dillon Gabriel wasn’t it. Joe Flacco wasn’t it. The missing piece, the guy who’s actually leading them to victory, is the last person anyone wants to see in that role. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but Deshaun Watson is somehow the answer to Cleveland’s quarterback woes.
The Uncomfortable Truth of Watson’s Success
Yeah, *that* Deshaun Watson. The one accused of dozens of counts of sexual assault, who settled 20 claims. He’s absolutely the last guy any organization wants as the face of their franchise. In any other workplace, he’d be long gone, forgotten. But the NFL? They’ve got this glaring blind spot for players who are just too talented to ignore, and Watson has planted himself firmly within it. The Browns, among other teams, made it clear they didn’t care about the court of public opinion when they pursued him. He’s met all the terms of his employment with the league, which means all his past “adversity,” as announcers are now sanitizing it, stays in the past. As distasteful as it is for a huge chunk of NFL fans, Watson is forcing the league to look at him purely through a football lens, not a social one. On the field this season, he’s been a qualified success. He’s not dominating games, but crucially, he’s not losing them either, and in today’s NFL, sometimes that’s all you need. He’s racked up seven touchdowns against just two interceptions, boasting a passer rating of 92.0 and completing 63.8 percent of his passes. Those aren’t MVP numbers, but they’re good enough to survive, and the Browns are clearly coalescing around it.
It’s a weird spot to be in, watching a team defy all expectations with a quarterback no one wants to cheer for. But here we are, Week 6, and the Cleveland Browns are sitting atop their division. It definitely makes you wonder what else is possible this season.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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