Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson spoke to the media on Wednesday and was asked about the failed 4th and 1 attempt in the fourth quarter against the New York Giants.
On the play, a slant-flat RPO, Watson is looking at wide receiver Jerry Jeudy on the slant. However, a third-level defender clicked down on the route in addition to the cornerback in coverage. Tight end Jordan Akins, however, appears to be wide open as the linebacker in coverage gets picked by the slant.
Instead of throwing the flat to Akins, however, Watson opted to tuck the football and run. He did not pick up the first down in a crucial spot in the ballgame.
When explaining why he did not throw the football to Akins, Watson went as far to say that Akins was not even part of the progression and was a decoy on the slant-flat RPO:
“Because other people are not in the film room, so not everyone knows exactly what the read was. That was a decoy, so, that’s the difference. Everyone can pause a tape and say, ‘Hey, he should have thrown it here, he should have thrown it here.’ Every quarterback deals with that. So if you choose one play and that’s the play out of the whole game that everyone is calling, then so be it. It is what it is. No one’s in those film rooms, no one is making those decisions.”
Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey was then asked about whether or not Akins was a decoy. Dorsey remained mum, but his difference altered drastically from what Watson said to the media the day before:
“I don’t wanna get into decisions on reads and how were supposed to do things but it all comes down to execution. Deshaun has to trust his reads and trust his progressions.”
That was not a no. And it was a question that would have been very easy to align with Watson on if that were the case. Akins gave a similar answer to the media as well. There are seemingly two schools of thought. Akins and Dorsey are in sync on one thought process, while Watson is on an island, calling Akins a decoy on the play.
One-read progressions are not a thing in the NFL. The options could not have been to throw the slant or run. There is always a second progression to a play-side read. And on a slant-flat, that second progression is a relatively easy one.
None of this adds up.