DTR played great the first half. He was on time, on target, and moved the chains consistently. He drove us down the field for what really should have been two TDs, but the refs clearly were not going to call shit yesterday. The only saving grace - they were consistent on both teams. Browns and Steelers got away with some stuff on the field yesterday. Lucky both teams were coached well enough that didn't escalate into a fight.
Had the refs been calling the game appropriately, we would have went into the locker room up 16-0 at halftime. Alas, they did not, and we had to settle for 10.
DTR the second half was not great. The running game was getting stuffed, and 90% of the passes were either screens or quick outs to the flat. There were a few of those that honestly may have been on DTR. He seemed eager to go to his safe read almost immediately. Now what I suspect the game plan was - He was given one read, and if the read wasn't there, dump it out. It sure looked like Kev had him on a clock - 2 seconds to make a read, or bail. He took a few shots towards Amari and Njoku, and these ultimately failed due to good pass defense, errant throws, or drops (looking at you Njoku). There were some dumps out to Ford or Hunt where he probably should have challenged the defense. However, he did not.
Keep in mind - when Lamar played this same defense, he went 22/38 for 192 and an INT. Watson went 22/40 for 235.
Yet he played within himself, likely executed within the gameplan, and kept the offense from committing game wrecking turnovers. And for that last drive, the clock was clearly taken away. All of a sudden, he stayed longer in the pocket. Not all of those drop backs were clean by the way, and he had a propensity to hold onto the ball a bit when the play wasn't there - but sure as hell he clearly made the throws that counted and got us to the promised land. I wouldn't say he's a complete project, I wouldn't judge him on two games. I don't think there's any argument that he has significantly improved between the two starts, and there is nothing saying he can't build off of this.
People want prime Deshaun Watson driving the bus for this team. I get it. I'd love to have a top 5 QB leading the offense. That's not in the cards. But what I don't understand is people coming to a conclusion that DTR will fail. There's a reason they play the games. Are we likely walking away with a Lombardi? No - 31 teams will fail at that pursuit. But we are still in it right now, and if they pull it off, the most likely scenario is DTR evolving and growing quickly to take control of this offense. And what a fucking story that would be.
He has the command of the ship, let's give the kid a chance to get it done.