Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns are 5-2 and atop the AFC North under head coach Todd Monken, even though their minus-13 point differential ties for fourth-worst among 5-2 teams since 2000. In each of those five wins, the quarterback has engineered a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter.
Against the Baltimore Ravens, he went 3-of-9 and was sacked three times in the first half before a 62-yard drive set up Andre Szmyt’s game-winning kick.
A week after that, Watson threw for 308 yards in a 27-24 win over the Tennessee Titans, which was the first 300-yard game of his Browns career. The defense has been just as important, even though coordinator Mike Rutenberg’s group has watched opponents win the opening quarter in six of their seven games.
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The Browns tend to settle in after that, as the Ravens’ nine straight possessions without points showed, and their 20 sacks, including five on Aaron Rodgers in a Week 4 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, rank sixth in the NFL.
With the Nov. 10 deadline approaching, one issue is hard to overlook. Jared Verse, the lead piece in the return for Myles Garrett, has yet to record a sack, and with that presence missing up front, the pressure on Cleveland to go after three-time first-team All-Pro Khalil Mack keeps building.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot urged the Browns to trade for the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
A deal won’t be simple, though. At 35, Mack is on a one-year contract that expires after the season, and he has three sacks through six games for the 0-6 Los Angeles Chargers, well short of the 17 he had in 2023.
Reports have suggested that the Chargers have given no hint of becoming sellers, which could drive the price up, and that minus-13 differential could make Cleveland’s front office think twice about spending draft capital on a short-term piece.
But the Browns recently got a first-, second- and third-round pick out of the Los Angeles Rams when they traded Garrett, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year. Against that haul, a mid-round pick doesn’t look like much to pay for a pass-rusher with Mack’s track record, and another win on Sunday would add to that argument.
The Browns will visit the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday with kickoff set for 1 p.m. ET.
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