It’s that time again. Everyone is giving their predictions on the final result of each team, who will make the playoffs and who will win the Super Bowl. Maurice Moton’s turn was there and you can find the article here.

He predicts that the Cleveland Browns will finish with a record of 8-9 and finish last in the division. The main reason for his prediction is that Deshaun Watson does not believe in his ability to play all the games.

Despite being injured last year, Watson has shown promise in training camp, throwing consistently in practice and being able to participate in 11-on-11 practice this week against the Minnesota Vikings.

Moton criticizes the Browns for not keeping Joe Flacco as Watson’s replacement. However, the Browns have taken care of the backup position and improved it. Flacco is 39 years old. The likelihood that Flacco can be as successful as he was last year is extremely slim.

Instead, the Browns opted for a similar player, Jameis Winston. Winston is one of the best backups in the league. He is capable of running a competent offense. Like Flacco, he needs to work on not losing the ball as often, which he did during his last extended season in 2021.

Moton is also unsure what to make of Nick Chubb’s injury. It has been reported that Chubb is making good progress in his recovery from his serious knee injury. It is likely that Chubb will be back sooner rather than later this year.

The only positive thing Moton says about the Browns is their defense. The defense should be similar to last year and has the potential to be even better with the new players and agent Mike Vrabel.

General thoughts

While Moton has good reason to doubt Watson’s ability and health, he has no problem saying that the Bengals will win the division if Joe Burrow is healthy. Burrow has battled numerous injuries throughout his career and is no more likely than Watson to finish the year healthy.

The Baltimore Ravens, who are projected to be 10-7, should be in good shape as long as they have Lamar Jackson. The addition of Derek Henry won’t hurt either, even though he’s getting older. However, there’s a lot of uncertainty with the Ravens. They lost several offensive linemen last year. On defense, they’ll have a new coordinator and several new players. They also lost star linebacker Patrick Queen to their division rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers will always have a batting average of around .500 as long as Mike Tomlin is their coach. Tomlin always has an above-average defense and keeps the team in the game. Their season will be determined by the play of their quarterback. Does Russell Wilson have anything left in the tank? If not, can the Steelers make Justin Fields a reliable passer? For better or worse, the Steelers’ season will be determined by their quarterbacks.

The Browns should finish above 8-9. With Winston, they have a younger backup quarterback capable of doing the things Flacco did that made him successful if Watson gets hurt. The Browns are in their second year with Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator, which should allow him to further diversify his scheme. The offense should also look better after the coaching shakeup they made this offseason and the signing of Jerry Jeudy.

While the Browns may not win the division, they definitely shouldn’t finish in last place. Their history makes it easy for the national media to continue to think little of the Browns. Since Kevin Stefanski took over as head coach, the Browns have only finished in last place once.

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