Evaluating Browns Backup QB PJ Walker in his first Browns start
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Cleveland Browns 19, San Francisco 49ers 17.
00:11 A game the Browns literally escaped, survived,
00:16 but ultimately won against a team everybody thought
00:19 was the best team in the NFL probably coming
00:22 into this afternoon's game.
00:24 And Anthony, the storylines all week long,
00:26 the Browns weren't going to have DeSean Watson available
00:29 this week, which moved the betting line down to a point
00:33 where it was almost 10 full points.
00:36 And not only that, the Browns did not
00:38 play Dorian Thompson Robinson.
00:40 They instead elevated PJ Walker off their practice squad.
00:43 So you could think of it as, hey, this is the team's
00:46 third string quarterback.
00:47 How do you think Walker played today?
00:49 He was enough, right?
00:51 It wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination,
00:55 but he got the job done.
00:57 And think about what his week was like.
01:00 Obviously, from the comments that were made potentially
01:02 during the game, the Browns knew that it
01:04 wasn't DeSean Watson all week.
01:06 Yes, us on the outside maybe had the conversation
01:09 into Wednesday and into Thursday,
01:12 but it seemed like he knew that he was going to be the starter.
01:15 And then just the constant talk down of this,
01:18 like, OK, 49ers are going to roll the Browns.
01:21 They're going to come in, take care of business,
01:23 like 9 and 1/2 points.
01:24 That's the spread.
01:25 Imagine hearing that all week long.
01:28 And you're just really happy for the guy to come out.
01:30 And the story that he's had, he was an XFL Cinderella.
01:35 He was awesome in the XFL COVID short season,
01:37 then goes to Carolina.
01:38 And it just was like he was a typical backup quarterback.
01:42 I think his record was 4 and 3 maybe in seven starts,
01:45 and just was up and down, and had a great opportunity today
01:50 to get back into NFL relevance, and really
01:54 did his part.
01:55 He looked good in spots, looked bad in spots.
01:57 But ultimately, at the end of the day, what he can point to
02:00 is, hey, we had 19 points.
02:02 They had 17, and we got the job done.
02:04 I mean, I think the best thing he could have done
02:06 was give his defense a chance to go out and shine.
02:09 And ultimately, he did that.
02:11 He really made the defense have to prove
02:14 that they were the best unit on the field.
02:15 That's certainly a big part of it.
02:19 But I thought Walker played OK.
02:22 Final numbers, 18 of 34, buck 92, no touchdowns,
02:26 and two pretty costly interceptions.
02:29 He seemed to have a good thing going
02:30 with Amari Cooper, who finished with four
02:32 catches for 108 yards.
02:34 Obviously, on one of those, he had a whole bunch of those
02:36 yards after the catch.
02:38 Walker's strength coming into this game
02:40 was his mobility, his intelligence, his experience,
02:44 and largely the fact that he could try
02:48 to extend plays with his legs.
02:52 His biggest weakness was his scattershot accuracy.
02:57 And we saw that on both two interceptions
03:00 and on two plays when the Browns were trying
03:02 to drive to take the lead late, where immediately fans were
03:05 like, you have got to be kidding me.
03:07 Is this really how this is going to go here?
03:09 Because missed two wide open receivers.
03:14 I don't want to dog him.
03:15 He got it done.
03:16 He did just enough.
03:17 But he did enough by that much.
03:18 Yeah, for me, it was more the two at the end of the game,
03:22 when it was like, all right, it's winning time.
03:24 And let's go just make something happen.
03:26 Be great for the next 10 live minutes.
03:30 That's what you need right now.
03:32 And those were two relatively easy throws coming
03:36 across the middle there.
03:38 So that's the one that stands out to me.
03:41 The two interceptions, I apologize for that.
03:43 But the two interceptions were the first one
03:46 that he was late coming back across the middle.
03:48 He just can't have it.
03:49 And then the second one, he was forcing to Mark Cooper.
03:53 I almost laughed when it happened,
03:54 because I think it was third down, or maybe second down.
03:57 But he was double covered.
03:58 And Amari's been balling all game.
04:00 So we're just going to chuck one up to Amari.
04:01 And they had him covered nicely.
04:04 But you didn't like some of the decisions.
04:08 But my favorite part about it was
04:12 the Browns were in it all game.
04:14 It got to the point where you're down 10-0,
04:16 but they stayed within arm's length all game long.
04:18 And that's a testament to him.
04:20 His two mistakes didn't cost them in the end.
04:22 But he just kept them within arm's length.
04:24 And when they had their opportunity to take advantage,
04:27 they did and finished with more points than the other team.
04:30 Good team win for the Browns for sure.
04:33 Not just because they needed what
04:35 felt like all 53 guys plus some in order to get this done,
04:38 but maybe even most impressively because of who they beat
04:43 and the confidence that this can give this team
04:45 and the wave that hopefully they can ride
04:48 for the rest of the season.
04:49 For all the latest news and info on the Cleveland Browns,
04:51 make sure you check out BrownsDigest.com.
04:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]