The Tampa Bay Buccaneers need to put the pedal to the metal against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2 following a disappointing loss to kick off 2026 at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals. Luckily for them, Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson got the mope started early with a bafflingly tone-deaf quote at his media availability.
Per Spencer German of 92.3 The Fan radio, Watson took aim at the media for seemingly building him up just to tear him down, implying that he is expected to throw for "400 yards and five touchdowns every week." No, Deshaun. They expect someone who was once among the best in the business to not be as exciting as a funeral.
Week 2 needs to be a coming-out party for the Bucs in what can only be described as an eminently winnable NFC South race. The Browns have seemingly already acknowledged they won't be showcasing very good quarterback play, and now it's on the Bucs to make sure those expectations are met.
Buccaneers have zero excuse to struggle against Deshaun Watson in Week 2
Watson's fairly average stats (72% completion, 205 yards, one TD, one INT) are fool's gold. His interception was perhaps the most egregious of any such turnover in Week 1, and most of those numbers came while the Browns' loss was already decided. Cleveland lost 34-10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1 and trailed by as much as 31 points.
The Bucs' performance against Joe Burrow can almost be excused. The pass rush is still getting there, the secondary is not equipped to consistently shut down a very deep Bengals pass-catching stable, and rookies Rueben Bain Jr. and Josiah Trotter occupy pivotal roles at the heart of this defense.
Cleveland, however, offers no such challenge. While they have some promising young skill position players, Watson has been so singularly bad that Tampa Bay would be foolish to not take advantage. Watson was sacked five times against Jacksonville, and Pro Football Focus attributes all of those takedowns to him holding the ball too long.
Buccaneers must thoroughly dominate Browns after Deshaun Watson's mopey quote
The NFC South outside of the Buccaneers looks as chaotic and disappointing as usual. The Saints cost themselves a shot at a major upset with some ill-timed turnovers, the Panthers gave up almost 60 points in their home opener, and the Falcons' Cooper Rush-led offense may have been worse than what Cleveland put on display.
A resounding victory here would make all those Baker Mayfield fumbles and inability to lock in on defense look like a thing of the past, especially if it was in as resounding a fashion as Jacksonville managed. If the Bucs want to make some noise in the playoffs, they not only need to beat teams of this caliber; they need to dominate them.
With Watson radiating milquetoast energy and the Browns' vibes about as wretched as humanly possible for a team just one game into the season, Todd Bowles and Tampa Bay may not get another game on the schedule all season long as winnable as this one.
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