• Winston immediately got the Browns' offense going: His first throw against the Ravens was one of his best, a tight-window shot to David Njoku.
• Back like he never left: Winston put up a classic stat line filled with big-time throws and turnover-worthy plays, and that's exactly what Cleveland's offense needs.
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Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Jameis Winston is once more an NFL starter. And he's capitalizing on it, leading the Cleveland Browns to a huge division win against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8. Winston was back to doing what he does best: slinging the football with unwavering faith and ultimate belief.
Jameis Winston's 2024 PFF Grades & Game Log
Winston finished the game with a 78.5 PFF overall grade — his highest game grade (minimum 20 dropbacks) since Week 1 of 2022. His stat line looked very similar to what we’ve seen from him his entire career: multiple big-time throws, multiple turnover-worthy plays and a high average depth of target.
Prior to Winston starting, the Browns struggled to generate explosive (15-plus yards) passing plays, ranking second to last in the NFL in that category. Enter Winston, who from 2015-19 had the fifth-most attempts of 20-plus yards and the highest average depth of target among signal-callers. In Week 8, Cleveland finished with 10 explosive passing plays, tied for the most of any team.
Winston got things going right away in his first start in two years. His first throw was one of the most impressive passes you’ll see.
How did the first throw of the day go for Jameis? Just a frozen rope with perfect accuracy in the tightest window possible pic.twitter.com/vEw1fAlIcr
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) October 28, 2024
After the play action, Winston identifies man coverage and, because of that, knows David Njoku will have a leverage advantage against Kyle Hamilton, one linebacker will take the running back out of the backfield and the other linebacker will drop and play as a “robber” in the middle of the field. He trusts his arm and knows he can beat Roquan Smith, who is flat-footed and not deep enough. The ball placement is absolutely perfect, and Hamilton can’t play tighter coverage. A perfect pass beats perfect coverage, and Njoku makes a great diving catch.
Deshaun Watson had struggled with simply getting the ball out on time to the correct receiver based on the coverage.
Switch release In/Out concept, Jameis reads the leverage advantage created and fires a perfect ball towards the sideline to convert a big 3rd down pic.twitter.com/mLN4dRYqz1
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) October 28, 2024
When defenses are presented with these tight bunch looks, they typically line up like the Ravens have here. The key for quarterbacks is understanding leverage and post-snap indicators of man or zone coverage. With the wide cornerback immediately sprinting inside, Winston has one indicator that it’s probably man coverage. To confirm it, he gets his eyes to Hamilton, and once he sees him take the in-breaking route, he can hit the corner route due to the leverage played by the cornerback trailing the route. You still have to complete the throw, though, and Winston makes a great pass to the sideline.
Winston trusts his arm and what he sees — sometimes to his detriment. But when he’s right, it leads to some impressive throws.
Great anticipation to a perfectly layered throw. Come on, how did it take this long for him to get another shot? pic.twitter.com/NkVFBui8zd
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) October 28, 2024
The Ravens rotate to Cover 3 after showing a two-high look pre-snap, and Winston knows that with the underneath route distracting the underneath defender, he’ll have a chance to hit the out route against a bailing cornerback. Many quarterbacks won’t attempt this throw because it requires a perfectly layered pass over the underneath defender. Not Winston. He throws this with great anticipation from the far hash and gets it over the outstretched arms of Kyle Hamilton with enough velocity to beat the outside cornerback.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Browns drive the ball into Ravens territory, only needing a field goal to take the lead. But they decided a field goal wasn’t good enough.
Good job by the Browns O-Line to pick up this zero-blitz and give Jameis enough time to hit the seam on a filthy route for the win. pic.twitter.com/s1RcoyVhjl
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) October 28, 2024
The Ravens show a two-high look pre-snap but, ultimately, send a zero-blitz, meaning there are zero deep players and everyone not in man coverage is blitzing. The Browns' offensive line does a great job of picking this up, but some quarterbacks will panic and either drop their eyes or simply hit the shallow cross just to get the ball out quickly. Winston stands in the pocket and delivers a perfect pass on a great route from Cedric Tillman to take the lead and, eventually, a win.
With Deshaun Watson out for the season, it looks like the Browns will turn to Jameis Winston for the remainder of the season. He gets another chance to be a starting NFL quarterback, and the Browns get a rejuvenated passing offense that makes watching their games fun again.
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