We might only be one week into the 2024 NFL season, but Cleveland Browns fans already find themselves in a familiar place.
Suffering a 33-17 defeat at home to the Dallas Cowboys, the Browns aren’t just 0-1, but they hardly looked like a team capable of building on last season’s Wild Card berth. And the biggest concern of all in Cleveland is the play of Deshaun Watson, as the former star quarterback continued to look like a shell of his former self, completing 24 of his 45 pass attempts for 169 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the loss.
Unsurprisingly, the Browns and Watson’s lackluster performances were the primary topics of conversation during The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima in Cleveland on Monday morning. After Carman and Lima went back and forth for the first 13 minutes, the 92.3 The Fan morning show took its first caller — although Dave in Macedonia wasn’t on the air for long.
“Two numbers,” Dave said after making an inaudible reference to Daniel Kaffee, Tom Cruise’s character in A Few Good Men. “You’ll figure them out: 42.9. 144.”
“What is all this?” an unamused Carman asked.
“Watson’s quarterback rating,” Dave answered. “Mayfield’s quarterback rating.”
“Aw Christ, I can’t do this for one more second. No, that’s enough! That’s enough!” Carman said before running the caller off with the show’s signature sounder of Jim Ross calling a Shawn Michaels Sweet Chin Music kick. “The first call out of the box, we’re gonna do this? The very first call out of the box, we’re gonna do this?”
The first call on Cleveland sports talk radio this morning pic.twitter.com/Ef9dln5MjX
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) September 9, 2024
It goes without saying that the “Mayfield” Dave referenced is Baker Mayfield, the former Browns quarterback who threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday. After being selected by the Browns with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, Mayfield spent four up-and-down seasons in Cleveland before the franchise opted to acquire Watson in a blockbuster trade with the Houston Texans in 2022.
After stumbling in stints with the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams, the former Oklahoma star has since bounced back to revive his career in Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, the Browns have yet to get much of anything from Watson, whose time in Cleveland has been marred by suspension, injury and ineffective play — despite his fully guaranteed $230 million contract.
As such, the subject of the team’s decision to spurn Mayfield in favor of Watson is understandably a touchy one and not one that Carman was in the mood for at 6:13 a.m. the morning after an embarrassing Browns loss.
“Can I have a little bit of time before we do this?” Carman said. “Can I have a little bit of time? He ain’t coming home, he ain’t coming back — only to play us. That’s it. He had a great day down there. Congratulations on all his success. I can’t undo the trade. I can’t undo it!”
If the fallout from the first week of the season is any indication, blocking out the “bulls**t” is going to be easier said than done for Watson this season, unless his play turns around.
