In 60 seconds: Seven weeks after Browns fans booed him in a preseason game, Deshaun Watson drove Cleveland 35 yards in the final 92 seconds to set up a career-long 56-yard field goal that beat the Steelers 27-24 — the Browns' third straight win, their first 3-1 start since 2021, and a share of first place in the AFC North.
- Watson went 24-of-33 for 268 yards and a touchdown, then engineered the game-winning drive after Pittsburgh tied it at 24 with 1:42 left.
- Andre Szmyt's 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining — the longest of his career — sealed Cleveland's 27-24 Thursday night win over Pittsburgh.
- The Browns are 3-1 for the first time since 2021 and sit atop the AFC North; Watson has led fourth-quarter game-winning drives three weeks running.
- On August 22, Browns fans booed Watson in a preseason game. Thursday, he was introduced last — to applause. "It's all God," Watson said of the turnaround.
What happened
It looked like a collapse. Cleveland had built a 21-10 halftime lead at Huntington Bank Field, watched the Steelers claw all the way back, and stood tied at 24 with 1:42 on the clock after Aaron Rodgers hit Pat Freiermuth for a three-yard touchdown and snuck in the two-pointer himself. Thursday Night Football was one bad drive from overtime — or worse.
Instead, Deshaun Watson did what he's now done three weeks running. He took the ball, went 4-of-5 for 46 yards, moved the Browns 35 yards in seven plays, and put kicker Andre Szmyt in range. Szmyt drilled it from 56 yards — the longest field goal of his career — with 10 seconds left. Browns 27, Steelers 24.
Latest verified facts
The win moves Cleveland to 3-1 — its first 3-1 start since 2021 — and puts the Browns atop the AFC North. It's their third straight victory after dropping the opener in Jacksonville, and the third straight week Watson has authored a fourth-quarter game-winning drive.
Over the last three games, Watson is 64-of-93 for 650 yards with five touchdowns against one interception. Pro Football Network's Tony Rizzo declared on air: "Some people are still in denial because their narrative isn't working, but make no mistake about it, Watson is back. He is back."
Head coach Todd Monken, whose system analysts say finally fits Watson, shared a pregame moment with his quarterback: "Before the game... I said, isn't this really cool? You're going to be introduced last, isn't that really freaking cool?" Seven weeks earlier, in an August 22 preseason game against Buffalo, the same crowd had booed Watson. On Thursday, he ran out last, to applause.
Why it matters
Context is everything. When the Browns named Watson the starter over Shedeur Sanders to open the season, the decision was, in Pro Football Network's words, "wildly unpopular" — ridiculed, even. Watson's Cleveland tenure had looked like a shipwreck: declining production, injuries, a fanbase turned against him.
Three game-winning drives in three weeks doesn't erase that. But it gives the most mocked quarterback decision of the summer a results-based defense. "It's all God," Watson said afterward. "I just let him take the wheel... We're 3-1, and that's a great feeling. We're doing it for the city."
For the AFC North, the implications are immediate: Pittsburgh, with Rodgers at the helm, was supposed to be the division's measuring stick. Cleveland just beat them head-to-head, on national television, in a game they nearly gave away.
Impact on the USA and the world
Thursday night games are America's weekly football ritual, and this one delivered the full arc: a rivalry, a comeback, a villain-to-hero narrative, a 56-yard walk-off. The 1M+ searches on "Deshaun Watson" in the last 24 hours — the country's biggest sports search spike — say the audience felt it.
The bigger picture: the Browns were projected as a rebuilding team cycling toward a rookie quarterback; instead they're first in the division in October with a veteran playing his best football in years. The quarterback debate isn't over — one bad month could reignite it — but for now, Watson has settled it the only way that counts.
What happens next
No soft landing ahead: Cleveland travels to face the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on October 11, with 13 games left and the AFC North tightly contested. Every win matters.
The open question: genuine career revival — a quarterback finally healthy, finally in a system that fits — or a hot month built on fourth-quarter luck? "That's part of the NFL. You have to ride the waves," Watson said. Right now the wave is carrying Cleveland. The next few weeks will show whether it's a tide.