4-Down Territory: Deshaun Watson, THICC-SIXes, Vikings mirage, Justin Herbert’s greatness
Every week in “4-Down Territory,” Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Luke Easterling of Bucs Wire and Draft Wire go over the things you need to know about, and the things you need to watch, in the NFL right now. With Week 14 of the 2022 NFL season in the books, there was a lot to cover!
This week, Doug and Luke discuss:
00:00 – Is Deshaun Watson the most catastrophic trade/signing in pro football history?
05:43 – Now that Penei Sewell has exploded onto the scene, which other NFL offensive tackle might be able to make his bones as a receiver?
08:51 – Is there any reason to take the Vikings seriously as a playoff contender?
12:56 – Where are we with Justin Herbert, and what does it all mean?
You can watch this week’s episode of “4-Down Territory” right here:
Is there any way for Deshaun Watson to transcend his reality?
(Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports)
We’ve avoided talking about Deshaun Watson since he was reinstated by the NFL after serving an 11-game suspension for a number of sexual assault allegations, but after two games with the Browns, it’s time to deal with Watson on the field. In a 27-14 win over the Texans, and a 23-10 loss to the Bengals, Watson has completed 38 of 64 passes for 407 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 70.3.
This is in comparison to Jacoby Brissett, who completed 236 of 369 passes as the Browns’ starter for 2,608 yards, 12 touchdowns, six interceptions, and a passer rating of 88.9. Not that Brissett is a top-level quarterback, but if Watson doesn’t get it back together before the season ends… we’re not even talking about the off-field stuff. Is this the most catastrophic trade/signing in pro football history? Sports history, even?
Doug: Imagine that you traded a bevy of draft picks and a few good players for Russell Wilson, signed Wilson to a massive contract, and then saw it all fall apart. Then, add in the multiple accusation of sexual assault, and the fact that you have to devote a certain percentage of organizational resources to making sure everything doesn’t fall apart OFF the field. I have no doubt that Watson will eventually regain some of the skills that made him such a great quarterback in 2020, but to what end? Who cares? We avoided talking about him at all in his first two weeks back, and that was a conscious choice. We do tape on everything over at Touchdown Wire, and we haven’t covered Watson at all. Again, a conscious choice. That’s how toxic he is.
Even if he’s able to become an MVP-level quarterback again – and I have my doubts there – the well has been so poisoned, it almost doesn’t matter. Let’s say he takes the Browns to the Super Bowl next season. So what? What does it mean? I don’t think Watson will ever shake this, nor should he, and it’s always going to be the worst thing the Browns have ever done, maybe outside of moving to Baltimore in 1996.
Luke: This was a terrible trade before Watson ever took a snap, and like you said, I think it’ll still be a terrible trade even if he wins a Super Bowl in Cleveland. I’ve seen so many Browns fans, lifelong fans, who have had their passion for their team ruined by this move, and it has nothing to do with football. Obviously, the on-field results since he’s returned have also been bad, but it still pales in comparison to willingly handing the keys to your entire franchise (both from a branding perspective, and all the resources it took to acquire him) to someone with this kind of off-field situation. It takes a lot to get die-hard fans, especially Browns fans, to go looking for a new team to root for. This was a terrible decision in every way.
Who is the ultimate offensive line weapon in the passing game?
(Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
The Lions preserved their win over the Vikings on Sunday by throwing a nine-yard pass to offensive tackle Penei Sewell on third-and-7 with two minutes left. Sewell went in motion pre-snap, which made the play even niftier. He had gone in motion from a stack formation a few plays before on a handoff to running back Jamaal Williams. Head coach Dan Campbell said after the game that they also have a red zone package for Sewell as a receiver, and that Sewell could be a Hall of Fame tight end if he dropped a few pounds from his svelte 331-pound frame.
Which other NFL offensive tackle might be able to make his bones as a receiver beyond the occasional gimmick play?
Doug: Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata is 6-foot-8, 365 pounds, and when he’s on the hoof, he looks like he could run about a 4.9 40-yard dash. He has a history in Australian rugby, which led him to the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program. The Eagles didn’t get him because he could perfectly execute a wham block. They got him because he’s an absolute freak of an athlete. Eagles O=line coach Jeff Stoutland, the best in the business, had to teach Mailata the position from the ground up.
Are you going to tell me that Mailata couldn’t learn a red zone route package, and completely destroy opposing defenses with it? Especially in the Eagles’ offense as it’s constructed right now? As the President of the THICC-SIX fan club, I now want to see this more than anything.
Luke: I’m obviously biased, but Tristan Wirfs is pound-for-pound one of the best athletes in the NFL. This is the same guy who was jumping out of swimming pools at 6-5, 320 pounds. I think the Bucs are much better off keeping him in as a blocker to protect Tom Brady (he earned All-Pro honors last year in just his second NFL season), but I wouldn’t hate it if he got to show off that ridiculous athleticism more often.
Are the Vikings a 10-3 mirage?
(AP Photo/Craig Lassig)
Speaking of the Vikings, they are now 10-3 after their loss to the Lions, and they would be the NFC’s second seed behind the Eagles if the regular season ended today. But they also have a negative point differential (minus-1), and they’ve allowed more than 400 yards in five straight games, which is a record for a franchise that’s been around since 1961. Is there any reason to take them seriously as a playoff contender when they get to the postseason?
Doug: I think the Vikings are the NFC’s version of the Titans. They have a pretty good quarterback, a passing game that can be great, a top-level running back, and a defense that can be blown apart by a half-stiff breeze. This is not a recipe for a deep playoff ruin. They are a good team with a record that’s much better than they are, and this has happened to the Titans over the last couple seasons. They’re 10-3, but they have 5.3 estimated wins, per Football Outsiders.
That defense, against, say, the Eagles, who beat the brakes off of them, 24-7, in Week 2? Uh-huh. Not gonna happen. They’re a good, not great, team who have played far above their heads in a record sense, and unless they shore up a lot of things before the postseason starts, they could easily be one-and-done. Who are they better than in the NFC playoff race? The Eagles? No. The 49ers with Brock Purdy? No. The Cowboys on a good day> Doubt it. The Buccaneers? Maybe, but that’s about where I put them – a good but fundamentally flawed team, no matter their record.
Luke: The Vikings have been showing us who they are all year, and it’s about time we believed them. They have arguably the best receiver in the league, one of the best running backs in the league, a decent quarterback, a really good tight end. Everything else makes me nervous. The fact that they’ve won so many close games is a double-edged sword, because while it’s important to find ways to win those games, it means they’re not that far away from being a sub-.500 team is the ball bounces a different way a few times. They may be the No. 2 seed right now, but there’s a galaxy between them and the Eagles at the top of the NFC.
Why do we have such a hard time recognizing Justin Herbert's greatness?
(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
We’re to the point with Justin Herbert where we have to start unpacking the truth about this player, and separating it from the hot takes, because the hot takes are… well, what they are. In the Chargers Sunday night win over the Dolphins, Herbert became the most prolific passer in the first three years of a career, passing Andrew Luck (13,056 yards to 12.957 yards) from 2012-2014. This morning show host calls him a “Social Media Quarterback,” whatever that means. This respected analyst falls back on half-baked analysis and reaches for the critical take. Where are you with Justin Herbert, and what does it all mean?
Doug: Let’s start with this. I think a few people have glommed into Herbert in a negative sense because they want to make it about themselves. They want to be the ones to “discover” that, hey, Herbert isn’t as good as we think he is, and I know better. Well, guys, you don’t know better. And you need to stop. Herbert is one of the quarterbacks you want. There are quarterbacks you win because of, quarterbacks you win with, and quarterbacks you win despite their presence.
You win because you have Justin Herbert, and you win with Herbert despite a group of receivers who aren’t great at getting separation, an offensive line that is beyond banged-up, and an offensive coordinator in Joe Lombardi that seems to be actively working against his own quarterback at times. The fourth-down motion screen to DeAndre Carter at the end of the Chargers’ first drive against the Dolphins, which gained no yards and marooned the Chargers at the Dolphins’ two-yard line, is an imperfect example. Herbert is transcending everything around him, and if you don’t see that, I don’t know what to tell you, or how to help you. He’s amazing. Next!
Luke: I agree with all of that, and I’ll add that so much of modern sports television exists solely to manufacture these adversarial topics out of thin air, despite the fact that they’re completely unnecessary and unhelpful to any substantial conversation about the game. There are so many logical fallacies flying around when it comes to these kinds of things, and it’s just mind-numbing. As far as Herbert goes, I think he’s still got all the mental and physical tools that we’ve raved about all along, and what he’s doing despite his current circumstances is impressive. He’s a stud, and that would be true even if social media didn’t exist.
