Mike Florio gives two reasons to buy into Deshaun Watson ahead of Week 1 vs. Joe Burrow despite multiple ongoing civil lawsuits

Mike Florio believes the Cleveland Browns could beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 because of Deshaun Watson.

Florio has been a longtime NFL reporter and he said on his podcast that the Browns are one of the big mystery teams heading into the 2023 NFL season. A big reason why, is because of their starting quarterback Deshaun Waston.

Watson has been dealing with legal issues and missed the entire 2021 season and only played six games in 2022.

However, Florio believes there are two reasons to believe the Browns can beat the Bengals in Week 1.

"You look at opening day, Cincinnati and Cleveland. Joe Burrow was 1-4 against the Cleveland Browns. He's better against Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid than he is against the Cleveland Browns.

"It's good to know that the people who were giving him treatment believe that he's learned and he's grown because it felt like a year ago after the suspension was announced he still didn't quite embrace what he had done. And he still got a couple of pending civil lawsuits last time I checked, so I agree with you. He's a huge mystery. It makes the Browns a huge mystery because they're only going to go as far as Deshaun Watson can take them."

The game will take place in Cleveland, but the Browns are +2.5-point underdogs against the Bengals.

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Deshaun Watson's 2022 stats

In 2022, Deshaun Watson was suspended for the first 11 games but did come back into a starting role with Cleveland.

In the six games he started, Watson went 3-3 as he went 99-for-170 as his accuracy was an issue early on. However, he did throw for 1,102 yards along with seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

Last season, Watson played against the Cincinnati Bengals in his second game back from suspension. The game was on the road and the Browns lost 23-10 in a game Watson went 26-for-42 for 276 yards, one touchdown, and one pick.

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