In a shocking turn of events, the Pittsburgh Steelers Week 11 opponent, the Cleveland Browns, have lost their franchise quarterback for the remainder of the 2023 season. Deshaun Watson has been dealing with injuries for the majority of the campaign and after missing some games, and being questionable for the game in Cleveland against Pittsburgh, it is now being reported that he will not be suiting up.
Cleveland.com
Steelers edge rusher, Alex Highsmith (#56) pursues Cleveland Browns quarterback, Deshaun Watson (#4) during a regular season game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network broke the shocking news on Wednesday morning on X (formerly known as Twitter). The quarterback is set to have surgery and make a full recovery.
#Browns QB Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the first quarter against the #Ravens and is heading to Injured Reserve. It’s a displaced fracture in his right glenoid in his shoulder, and he’ll have surgery to repair it. Full recovery is expected. pic.twitter.com/pId7mTAXSf
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 15, 2023
This is a huge blow to the Browns who rewarded Watson with a massive, fully guaranteed contract in 2022. The Steelers are now set to face off against Cleveland's backup quarterback, PJ Walker, in Week 11. It will be interesting to see how much TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith can pressure Walker to make things extremely difficult for him.
Walker is 2-1 at a starter in 2023, but only has one touchdown compared to five interceptions. Pittsburgh's turnover-happy defense will likely try to make things very tough for him. If they are able to stop the running game and force Walker to make plays with his arm, the Steelers have an extremely high chance of coming out of the game with a victory.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter / X: @JSKO_Photo)
Steelers dominant edge rusher, TJ Watt warms up on the playing surface at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA prior to a 2022 preseason game.
This completely changes the situation in the NFL's best and toughest division. While the Browns have one of, if not, the best defense(s) in the league, losing your starting quarterback and running back for the year is a brutal blow. If the Baltimore Ravens find a way to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football and Pittsburgh defeats the Browns, it may quickly shift to a two-team race to host a home playoff game.
Steelers Have Huge Game In Cleveland
The game against the Browns is a huge one for the AFC North standings. Pittsburgh needs to come away with a win if they want to remain undefeated in the division and improve to 7-3 on the season. Watson not being able to play, after performing well in recent weeks, is a huge loss to Cleveland's organization and him being out for the rest of 2023 is a massive development.
This is a developing story that we will continue to update.
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