Deshaun Watson saves his starting job with a strong performance in stunning 23-19 upset of Baker Mayfield and the Bucs

TAMPA, Fla. — Deshaun Watson, with his back firmly against the wall Sunday, took the Baker Mayfield Revenge Bowl by storm in Tampa, literally.

With his starting job on the line, Watson came out swinging in a 23-19 upset of the Bucs with arguably his second-best performance in a Browns uniform. It was interrupted by a 2-hour and 12-minute thunderstorm delay, complete with a heavy downpour and lightning.

Watson went 24 of 30 for 238 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 121.9 rating. His counterpart Mayfield went 21 of 34 for 182 yards with one TD and one INT for a 73.4 rating.

By holding on, the Browns gave coach Todd Monken his first victory as an NFL head coach.

Cleveland moved to 1-1, and Tampa Bay fell to 0-2.

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Watson’s best performance for the Browns was his 33-31 victory over the Ravens in Baltimore in 2023. That day, he went 14-for-14 in the second half and brought the Browns back from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit.

With his strong outing Sunday, he made it virtually impossible for Monken to bench him for next week’s home opener against the Panthers and install Shedeur Sanders as the starter, which was basically in the cards if Watson had struggled again.

Watson put the Browns ahead 23-19 on a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Blake Whiteheart with 3:51 remaining.

Less than two minutes later, the game was halted by the severe thunderstorm at the two-minute warning that sent fans to the corridors seeking shelter and the teams to the locker room.

At the time, the struggling Mayfield had the Bucs on the move against his former team, facing a second and 4 at the Browns 28.

Two hours and 12 minutes later, with cornerback Mekhi Becton on the field for the Browns in place of injured Tyson Campbell, Mayfield’s fourth-down pass to Emeka Egbuka in the end zone fell incomplete, with Becton in coverage.

By then, Watson had already won the day and the start next week with his gutsy performance.

The TD pass to Whiteheart silenced Raymond James Stadium and put Mayfield on his heels.

On the 12-play, 68-yard TD drive, Whiteheart sold the block and leaked out to the left, where Watson found him all alone on the under route for the TD. Whiteheart stumbled after catching the ball and had to put his hand to the ground to catch his balance near the 10.

It was Watson’s second TD pass of the game. His first was a 55-yard catch-and-run by rookie receiver Denzel Boston, his new deep threat. Boston beat his man at the Tampa Bay 41 and broke three tackles before sprinting up the left side to the end zone.

Despite numerous mistakes by his young supporting cast and overhauled offensive line, Watson refused to back down and came out swinging after his shaky start in the loss to Jacksonville last week.

Now, the home crowd will have to deal with at least one more start from Watson, and if he continues to play like this, some fans might even climb on board.

After the Panthers game, the Browns host the Steelers four days later on Thursday Night Football.

Monken undoubtedly needed a strong performance from Watson against the Bucs before he’d send him out to face a potentially hostile home crowd next week, and he got one.

During training camp, Monken cited “mental toughness” as Watson’s No. 1 trait for a quarterback, and Watson demonstrated that he still has it despite so much vitriol from Browns fans and some media.

What’s more, he met the enormous challenge presented by Mayfield, who had this game circled on his calendar from the moment the NFL schedules came out in May. The No. 1 overall pick by the Browns in 2018, Mayfield was cast aside by the Browns in favor of Watson, and wanted this victory in the worst way.

It was the first head-to-head matchup between the two since the Browns traded for Watson -- the quarterback the Browns gave up on, and the one they replaced him with.

The Browns surrendered three first-round picks and more for Watson and lured him to Cleveland with a five-year, fully guaranteed, $230 million contract, and it was all about to come to an abrupt end in Tampa unless Watson came up big.

He rose to the occasion, and played his heart out.

He also did so despite the fact the Browns couldn’t support him with a running game for the second straight week. When the storm delay began at the two-minute warning, Watson was the team’s leading rusher with 23 yards on six carries, and Quinshon Judkins was second with 21 yards and a 1.8-yard average.

Mayfield, who recently became the highest-paid player in Bucs history at $55 million a year, was coming off three fumbles in a 33-27 loss to the Bengals last week, and determined to get revenge on his former team.

He was picked off by Myles Harden with 1:09 left in the first quarter, and was almost picked off by him again in the fourth quarter, this time in the end zone.

Sanders was one of the first players to congratulate Watson after the TD pass.

Watson’s signature play was the 55-yard touchdown pass to rookie Boston, who beat his man on the left side and then broke three tackles on his way to the end zone. It followed last week’s 46-yard touchdown pass from Watson to Boston late in the 34-10 loss to the Jaguars.

That tied the game 16-16 with 1:23 left in the third quarter. It followed a perfectly placed back-shoulder fade to Boston on the left side of the end zone on the previous drive that he couldn’t hang onto.

Mayfield stormed back with a 49-yard pass to Tez Johnson in the fourth quarter to the Browns 21 to set up a 31-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin that made it 19-16. Harden almost picked off Mayfield for the second time in the end zone.

Watson showed the Browns the moxie and efficiency they were hoping for from him this season.

The Bucs “double-dipped” to take a 16-6 lead in the third quarter, kicking a field goal on the final drive of the half to make it 9-6, and then scoring a TD on a Mayfield 5-yard pass to Egbuka on the opening drive of the third quarter.

The Egbuka TD drive featured numerous missed tackles by the Browns, including one by Ronnie Hickman on a 9-yard run by Mayfield on third and 9. On the TD, Egbuka was left all alone on the left side of the end zone.

Watson took over at his 26 and orchestrated one of his best drives of the first two weeks. He marched the Browns to the Tampa 16, where he hit Boston in the back left of the end zone on well-placed back shoulder fade, but Boston bobbled the ball and had it knocked away by cornerback Benjamin Morrison.

The Browns settled for a 34-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt that narrowed the gap to 16-9 with 3:45 left in the third.

The Browns trailed 9-6 at the half and Watson, with so much at stake, got very little help from his supporting cast in the first half.

The offensive performance was marred by drops, penalties and sloppy play overall.

Instead of building on some of the good things it did in Jacksonville, the offense regressed. It was unfortunate for Watson, because he played well in the first half.

The gaffes included:

a false start by right tackle Tytus Howard on a fourth and 1 from the 27 in the first quarter that forced the Browns to settle for a 50-yard Andre Szmyt field goal;

a drop by Harold Fannin Jr.;

a short pass that Boston should’ve caught;

a red-zone sack surrendered by Howard;

a holding call by Howard;

and a sack given up by Raheim Sanders on second and long.

Monken also went for it on fourth and 1 from the Browns’ 34, and Judkins was stopped cold to set the Bucs up with great field position on their final drive of the half. They converted the turnover on downs into a 31-yard field goal for the 9-6 halftime edge.

It was the second questionable decision by Monken in the half. The first was a challenge on a fumble by tight end Cade Otton that was forced by Denzel Ward and recovered by Otton. Monken believed it was an incomplete pass, but it wouldn’t have helped much anyway from a down and distance standpoint.

Watson, looking much more confident than he did in the first half in Jacksonville, went 7 of 9 for 55 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions for a 92.1 rating before the break.

Mayfield went 9 of 15 for 45 yards in the first half with no TDs and one interception — by Harden — for a 36.8 rating.

The game was there for the taking by the Browns, and they kept blowing it. But they came through when it mattered.

Next

The Browns play their home opener against the Carolina Panthers next Sunday. Kickoff at Huntington Bank Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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