Jameis Winston’s wins over Ravens and Steelers put him in select company

Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.

Second thoughts on Browns’ 24-19 victory over Pittsburgh Steelers …

1. The list of Cleveland quarterbacks who beat the city’s most hated football rivals -- the Steelers and Ravens -- in the same season is a short one. The first to do it was Baker Mayfield. Jameis Winston is the second. Mayfield deserves credit for shouldering the failures of 16 opening-day Browns quarterbacks who preceded him. That historical baggage crushed previous QBs. In 2019, Mayfield beat the Ravens, 40-25, in Baltimore, and the Steelers in Cleveland, 21-7. The rout in Baltimore should’ve hurt the Ravens. Instead, it sparked them to a 12-game winning streak and a 14-2 AFC-best regular-season record. The Ravens then were upset by Tennessee in their first playoff game. The win over Pittsburgh came in the game that Myles Garrett konked Mason Rudolph with his own helmet. That year, Rudolph split time at QB with Duck Hodges, leading to one of Mike Tomlin’s three 8-8 seasons as Steelers coach. Winston’s dual wins both have come at home, but taken together are more impressive than Mayfield’s twin-bill. First, both upsets stopped five-game winning streaks of the Ravens and Steelers. Both teams are heading to the playoffs. And both teams had their regular starting quarterbacks play in the games.

2. Incidentally, Mayfield and Winston were virtually even statistically in their triumphs. Mayfield was 37 of 62 (59.6%), 535 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 97.18 passer rating. Winston was 45 of 69 (65.2%), 553 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 98.28 rating. Mayfield had a 1-yard TD run in his Pittsburgh game. Winston scored on a 2-yard run in his Pittsburgh game in the fourth quarter after escaping a sack on fourth down.

3. Myles Garrett’s performance (3 sacks, 1 strip) and his post-game comments revealed how stung he was by T.J. Watt’s disparaging social media post when Garrett claimed the defensive player-of-the-year award in February. Garrett also may have been super-motivated by nagging head-to-head comparisons of Watt and himself highlighted in the Steelers weekly media game release, which favored Watt. Immediately after the emotional game, Garrett said in an on-field interview, “I got a lot of respect for him, a lot of respect for all the guys over there. But I'm number one. And that's what I am, Edge 1 to defensive player-of-the-year. I'm the guy. It's still me. There's no other person being defended like I am, or schemed or played against like I am.” 

4. Like his dominating performance in the Indianapolis game a year ago, Garrett’s big night against the Steelers should thrust him to the forefront of the DPOY conversation. Everybody in the NFL was watching TNF as Garrett thoroughly outplayed Watt. Garrett has now made up for a four-game sack drought with three on Justin Herbert and three on Russell Wilson in the span of three weeks. Garrett's 10 sacks total airlifted him into second in the league behind Trey Hendrickson’s 11.5 entering the weekend. What’s interesting, though, is that the leading sports books haven’t caught on. Watt remains the overwhelming favorite for DPOY on BetMGM (-185), DraftKings (-200) and FanDuel (-125). Garrett is sixth on BetMGM (+1800), 10^th on DraftKings (+2000) and seventh on FanDuel (+2000). Those odds on Garrett are incredibly inviting.

5. Watt’s quiet game (4 tackles, 1 TFL, 0 sacks) matched his lowest output ever against the Browns in 13 meetings. His only other sack-less day came in a 38-7 Pittsburgh victory in 2020. The Steelers never moved Watt over left tackle Germain Ifedi, so the game was a personal triumph for right tackle Jack Conklin, who made his sixth start since returning from major reconstructive surgery on his right knee in September of 2023. The sloppy field due to increasing snowfall in the second half swung the advantage significantly to offensive linemen over pass rushers. But Watt was just as invisible in the first half when Garrett was racking up his three sacks. “I thought Jack was outstanding,” coach Kevin Stefanski said, before adding, “I can single out Jack, but he’s going to get fined by his fellow linemen if I do.” The game proved Conklin can still win against the best pass rushers in the NFL after having surgery to mend “the whole shebang” of injuries to his knee. “I hope that doesn’t get lost on anybody because he has been through the ringer with this injury and to bounce back and play at the level that he’s playing at has been really impressive,” Stefanski said.

6. Nick Chubb’s two rushing touchdowns marked his 12^th career game with at least two rushing TDs. His 59 yards rushing were his lowest output in those 12 games. But I can argue it may have been Chubb’s most memorable and meaningful game because of the circumstances – his second TD proved the winning points in his first game against the Steelers since injuring his left knee in Pittsburgh in 2023. Fittingly, Chubb didn’t celebrate either touchdown with even the slightest show of emotion. But you can bet it was an emotional evening for him. Chubb escaped the locker room before media could gather his thoughts. “I’ve run out of superlatives for Nick, honestly, and he’s my favorite player on the team. You can tell everybody else I said that,” Stefanski said after the game. “Nick does the right thing all the time and to see what he’s gone through to come back and put himself where he is, just to be back playing in the first place and then to be back out there and performing like he’s performing, scoring for this football team when we need him the most. He’s a special, special player, but he’s a great person.”

7. On Friday, the NFL announced the Browns’ Monday night game in Cincinnati on December 19 has been flexed out and replaced by Denver at the L.A. Chargers. It’s the first time a Thursday night game has been flexed since NFL owners voted in the provision in 2023. The Browns will now play the Bengals at 1 p.m. on Sunday, December 22. It’s a tremendous break for the Browns because a Thursday night road game, especially against a division rival, imposes hardships that favor the home team. The Browns can thank the Broncos for the flex out. Because they already had a Thursday night road game after a Sunday afternoon game this season, the Broncos had to approve the schedule change, per the TNF flex rules. Coach Sean Payton explained he accepted the change because it gives the Broncos extra days to prepare for their next game – on the road in Cincinnati, coincidentally. Essentially, Payton took away the Bengals’ extra prep time. So the Bengals really got stripped of advantages in two straight games as a result of the changes.