Have you ever been driving on the open road and even though your gas gauge indicates you are low on fuel you drive past one service station with hopes you can make it to another farther up the road?
The Cleveland Browns football team is doing something akin to that this season.
It started last May, when they sent three first round draft picks to the Houston Texans for exiled quarterback Deshaun Watson. In much the same way the Los Angeles Rams traded away their future by bringing in quarterback Matthew Stafford for success now before the start of the 2021 season, and then cashed that decision with a Super Bowl LVI victory, the Browns looked to accomplish the same goal.
The difference between the two deals was that Stafford wasn’t facing any legal problems and an almost certain suspension before he was available to play. Watson was, and when the league imposed an 11 game suspension on the recent Cleveland acquisition the Browns checked their gauges and hoped they could get through the first half of the season still in position to vie for a playoff berth when Watson was eligible to play.
So far, the results are mixed.
The Browns have one of the best rushing attacks in the game, and a defense stocked with quality athletes acquired through high draft choices based on abysmal records the team compiled for most of this century. In one two year period, 2016 and 2017, Cleveland won one game in 32 regular season decisions.
The decision to stake their future on Watson also prompted the team to jettison the quarterback they chose with the first overall selection in the 2018 draft, Baker Mayfield, to the Carolina Panthers. That move was made to clear the path for Watson to move into the starting role without any quarterback controversy.
That is all well and good, but it does put the Browns on an 11 game quest to stay in contention in the AFC North Division race before filling up their offense with the insertion of Watson. The player scheduled to be behind center for Cleveland for their first 11 games this season is Jacoby Brissett. The seven year veteran was selected in the third round of the 2016 draft by the New England Patriots. A year later, he was shipped to Indianapolis where twice in his four seasons with the Colts he was their starting quarterback.
Last year, he was a member of the team he goes up against this Sunday, the Miami Dolphins. He made five starts for the Dolphins last season and has made 45 NFL career starts with a won/loss record of 17 wins and 28 losses. This season, while he nudges the Browns to the time when Watson moves into the starting role, he has won three of his eight starts.
That 3-5 record has the Browns currently 2½ games behind the AFC North Division leading Baltimore Ravens. With only six games left in the regular season when Watson becomes available, the Browns can’t afford to fall any further behind in their race to have Watson’s insertion meaningful in 2022.
The Dolphins success this year is keyed by their young quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa. The third year signal caller was the Dolphins first round draft choice in 2020 and has won every game he has started and finished this season. But, an injury knocked him out of a contest against the Cincinnati Bengals that the Dolphins went on to lose and during his absence Miami lost games to the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings.
Those three defeats leave the Dolphins one-half game behind the Buffalo Bills in the highly competitive AFC East Division race.
What that produces on Sunday is a pair of teams needing a win, but the Browns more desperate for a victory in their attempt to stay competitive in their division race while heading for the day when Watson takes over their quarterback role.
The combination of desperation and points is an edge worth taking.
Qoxhi Picks: Cleveland Browns (+3½) over Miami Dolphins