Once upon a time, Deshaun Watson was among the most feared quarterbacks in the NFL. He was so gifted, so dangerous, nobody wanted to face him.

Now, he looks like exactly what a scuffling Eagles team needs.

One of the best quarterbacks in the NFL has turned into one of the worst.

Watson, who put up historic numbers early in his career with the Texans, hasn’t been the same guy since his legal issues sidelined him for the entire 2021 season in Houston and the first six games of the 2022 season, after he signed a record-setting, fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract with the Browns.

Compare his stats from 2017 through 2020 in Houston to parts of 2022 through 2024 in Cleveland:

71 Games with Texans: 68 percent, 104 TDs, 36 INT, 7.3 yards per attempt, 12.3 yards per completion, 269 yards per game, 104.5 rating.

17 Games with Browns: 60 percent, 19 TDs, 12 INT, 5.6 yards per attempt, 9.9 yards per completion, 181 yards per game, 79.4 rating.

The only quarterback with a higher passer rating from 2017 through 2020: Patrick Mahomes.

The only quarterbacks with lower passer ratings from 2022 through 2024: Sam Howell, Kenny Pickett, Davis Mills, Zach Wilson and Bryce Young.

Watson may have hit a new low Sunday when he threw for only 125 yards on 35 drop-backs in the Browns’ 34-13 loss in Washington.

Browns coach and St. Joe’s Prep and Penn grad Kevin Stefanski said after the game Watson will remain the Browns' starter, so that means he’ll face the Eagles Sunday at the Linc.

“We’re not changing quarterbacks,” Stefanski said. “We need to play better as an offense. We need to be able to move the ball on first and second down, convert when we get the third down, score in the red zone. 

"We're not doing that. We need to play better as an offense. We need to coach better as an offense.”

In his only previous appearance vs. the Eagles, with the Texans in 2018, Watson completed 73 percent of his passes and threw for 339 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. 

Those days are long gone.

How lackluster has Watson been this year?

He’s the first quarterback in NFL history to average 5 ½ yards per pass attempt or less in each of the first five games of a season with a minimum of 25 attempts per game. He’s averaging 4.8 yards per attempt, worst in the league this year, and his 8.0 yards per completion is lowest by any NFL quarterback through five games since Jack Concannon of the Bears averaged 7.9 in 1970.

He's the only starting quarterback who hasn’t completed a pass longer than 30 yards this year. The last two weeks, he hasn’t completed a pass longer than 19 yards.

Watson is only the third quarterback since 1970 to begin a season with five straight games of at least 25 attempts and fewer than 200 yards. The others were Trent Dilfer in 1996 and Donovan McNabb in 2003.

He’s only the fifth QB in NFL history to throw for fewer than 900 yards and be sacked at least 25 times after five games.

“This offense is going to go as far as I go,” Watson told reporters in Landover after the loss to the Commanders. “So if we're not doing enough offensively, as a quarterback, you’ve got to take all the pressure, you take all the heat, you take all the blame. 

“So I have to find ways to bring everybody else along so we can go out here on Sundays and eliminate all the self-inflicted mistakes that are going to cause us to get behind the eight ball and put ourselves in situations that we don't want to be in.”

Watson’s backup is veteran Jameis Winston, who back in 2015 threw five touchdowns without an interception for the Bucs in a win over the Eagles. 

But when your quarterback has a fully guaranteed contract that runs through 2026 it’s very tough to bench him. It may be the worst contract in NFL history, but the Browns are stuck with it.

“I know it's easy to single people out. and start with me, single me out,” Stefanski said when asked about Watson’s struggles. “I need to get it fixed.”

The Browns are 1-4 – they beat the Jaguars in Jacksonville in Week 2 – and they haven’t scored more than 18 points yet, the first time in franchise history they haven’t scored more than 18 points in any of their first five games.

They’re last in the NFL in yards per game, 30^th in points per game, last in sacks allowed and last on third down.

Their average of 3.81 yards per play is 2^nd-lowest through five games of any team in the last 30 years. The expansion Texans (whose defensive coordinator was Vic Fangio) averaged 3.77 in 2002, their first year of existence.

Watson has also been sacked an astounding 26 times, 8^th-most after five games since sacks became an official stat in 1982.

Watson’s top targets have been seven-time 1,000-yard receiver Amari Cooper, who has 20 catches but for just 208 yards, and running back Jerome Ford, who has 20 catches for just 93 yards. Jerry Jeudy has 19-for-213.

Help could be on the way in the form of Nick Chubb, the four-time Pro Bowl running back who’s been out with a devastating knee injury since Week 2 of last year. Chubb’s 5.3 career rushing average is 2^nd-highest in NFL history (behind Jamaal Charles’ 5.4). The Browns opened his practice window, so he’s eligible to return.

The Browns have been fine on defense under Jim Schwartz, Doug Pederson’s defensive coordinator when the Eagles won the Super Bowl seven years ago. They’re 13^th overall and 8^th in passing defense.

Browns general manager Andrew Berry was the Eagles’ vice president of football operations under Howie Roseman in 2019.

“We want to be explosive like every other offense,” Watson said. “And right now we're not doing that.”

Subscribe to Eagle Eye anywhere you get your podcasts: 
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube