Monday's leftovers

Is there any question, now that we've seen an extremely different-looking Deshaun Watson during his brief four-possession cameo in Sunday's 39-38 victory Sunday in Indianapolis, that the Browns' offense is closing in on critical condition after just six games.

Yes, this is a very talented team on that side of the football. With one critical exception. Their best quarterback is not even close to being effective, let alone healthy enough to play. He looked hesitant, unsure and clearly out of rhythm in a 12-snap performance. 

He looked dazed and confused and clearly out of synch against the Colts. He just didn't look right. That's what an almost month-long layoff can do to any player, especially a quarterback, whose success often relies on rhythm and timing. 

Head coach Kevin Stefanski, starting Watson out of desperation, called it a day for his $230 million quarterback after he was rudely thrown to the ground while attempting to pass. "I felt like I wanted to protect him," he explained after the game. "I did not want to see him get hurt. He was hit hard."

Well, yeah, that's the way they play football in the NFL. If he wants to protect Watson, then dial up plays that require him to get the ball out early. The question there, though, is whether he is that kind of quarterback. 

Most of his success in the league has come with an offense that features run-pass options that require leaving the pocket and making plays with his feet with occasional passes from the pocket that stretch the field. 

No one knows how long it will be before Watson is sound enough to take the battering most NFL quarterbacks absorb. It becomes a guessing game for Stefanski, who relies on the club's medical team. Even then, the meds cleared Watson for the Baltimore game before he shut himself down in pre-game warmups.

Stefanski, nevertheless, is not going to be deterred by Sunday's dismal showing against the Colts and has already said Watson will be ready for next Sunday's game in Seattle against the Seahawks.

Ready for what? More punishment? His offensive line is no longer one of the best in pass protection in the NFL. He needs at least four seconds to throw. The best they can give him is three. What's more, he is nowhere near being ready to come back from a lingering throwing-arm shoulder injury and taking charge again.

Stefanski is in a delicate, almost helpless position. He knows a healthy Watson is his best hope and all he can do, probably frustratingly, is inform the media on a daily basis that Watson is day-to-day. 

We've seen enough of P. J. Walker and rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback now to know it is vitally important to get Watson healthy as soon as possible. Walker is just barely adequate and an interception waiting to happen. DTR is more athletic. And not at all ready. That's about it. 

And that is why even a modestly healthy Watson needs to be the man the rest of the way. Because if he isn't, the outstanding Browns defense will be frazzled by early December at the earliest and likely incapable of rescuing the offense.

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Stefanski pronounced himself proud of what his team accomplished against the Colts. "We needed moxie, we needed guts, we needed grit," he said. "We needed all of it today."

He neglected to mention one other attribute that played a massive role in the comeback when all hope appeared extinguished in the final moments. "We needed luck," he could have said because that is what he got to win the game.

Two penalty calls against the Colts in the waning moments of regulation tilted the momentum substantially in the Browns' favor and were a major factor in the Cleveland victory. 

A strip sack of Walker and recovery on third and four at the Colts 13, which would have ended the game right there, was wiped out by an very iffy illegal contact penalty. Then an interference call on a pass that was catchable (maybe) by only Victor Wembanyama in the end zone placed the ball on the one-yard line.

Both calls were borderline at best. Gene Steratore, a former referee who is CBS-TV's expert at judging ultimate decisions via replay, thought so, too but didn't fault the on-field officials. 

Browns fans, used to getting the short end of decisions like this in the past, loved it. Colts fans, like Browns fans over the years, couldn't understand how their victory was stolen.

It is said that luck is the residue of hard work. In this case, that would be true because of the outcome. The offense did, indeed, work hard in a clutch situation to save this one from winding up in the wrong column. They got real lucky.

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Hard to believe Stefanski didn't target Amari Cooper in the first half against the Colts. He totally ignored his best receiver. What was he thinking? He overcorrected course in the second half, targeting Cooper eight times. The first came on the second play of the second half. It was the first of six incompletions. Only two were successful for 22 yards.

Why do I get the feeling Stefanski has way too much on his mind as the games unfold and his offense suffers. Not certain how communications work on the sidelines during a game, but someone in the first 30 minutes should have pointed out Cooper was being ignored.

You can't play feast or famine with your best guy and expect him to maintain his concentration. Cooper needs to be rewarded with the football at least eight or nine times a game. Keep him busy. Biggest problem there is the best thrower on the team is hurt.

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Finally . . . Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz needs to have a nice sitdown sometime this week with his secondary, who put on a poor display of tackling against the Colts. Prime example: Second play of a Colts possession early fourth quarter right after Dustin Hopkins had given the Browns a 33-32 lead with a 58-yard field goal, Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr, snagged a 15-yard pass from Gardner Minshew III at the Indy 40, shook off attempted tackles by cornerbacks Greg Newsome II, who had a clean shot, and Martin Emerson Jr. and completed the 75-yard play. That needs to be addressed pronto.