Cleveland moved to 5-2 with a 27-24 win over the Titans in Week 7, yet the postgame discussion centered on a single interception. Deshaun Watson attributed it to a rookie receiver. Head coach Todd Monken saw it differently.
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“Well, it’s unfortunate because we got man coverage and the inside receiver got shut off,” Monken told reporter Camryn Justice. “And we always have to cross face there. Now, was it difficult with the release that Denzel got in the corner, made a nice play of getting inside of it? Yes, but there would have been nowhere else to go. I mean, once we get man and we progress inside out, it’s going to go to the outside slant.
“We had the same thing at the Jets on third down on our, you know, after we got the turnover and the ball got batted down, and Deshaun won. A Denzel won, excuse me. And so it’s one of those unfortunate things where you can’t always say what the quarterback sees when he’s sitting in the pocket. Like he may see the initial release, and he’s going to count on that receiver to break face and be in that spot. And I’m not saying that the corner didn’t make a nice play, but we’ve got to fight to get to that spot before the corner does.”
Cleveland won over the Titans, but one early play drew the most attention afterward. On second-and-12 from its own 34 in the first quarter, Deshaun Watson threw short left toward D. Boston, and Titans defender C. Flott intercepted it and returned it 14 yards.
It was a rough start, and the details explain why. Watson had gone after rookie receiver Denzel Boston on a slant during the opening drive. Boston dipped underneath his route instead of holding his path, and that let Titans cornerback Cor’Dale Flott step in for the pick. Tennessee turned it into an early lead.
Boston knew right away that he had slipped. He went to Watson immediately after the play, then apologised again in the locker room once the game was over, admitting his route had left his quarterback in a tough spot.
Watson confirmed all of that in his postgame press conference, and in doing so he made clear where the mistake came from.
“He came and talked to me after the play and then after the game in the locker room, he came over and told me too…he understood that he kind of put the quarterback in a bad spot,” Watson Said.
He was gentler about the miss afterward.
“It’s a teaching moment for a young receiver, and we’re not going to charge it against him. I’m not going to be p— off about it. It happens; it is what it is. We got the W, but it’s definitely a good teaching moment,” he added.
That is notable because Boston has been a big part of this offense. The 39th overall pick out of Washington came into Week 7 with 17 catches for 345 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 20.3 yards per catch, and he has become the guy Watson looks to when Cleveland needs a big play.
The early mistake did not define the day, though. Watson delivered one of his best performances since arriving in Cleveland, completing 25 of 36 passes for 308 yards.
Cleveland then rattled off 17 straight points before halftime and won it on a field goal in the closing seconds. The Browns piled up a season-high 491 yards of offense, 183 of them on the ground.
It was Watson’s fifth game-winning drive of the season, and it keeps Cleveland on top of the AFC North. Next up is a division matchup at Pittsburgh against the Steelers on November 1.