Watson leads third straight winning drive, puts Browns atop North - ESPN

CLEVELAND — For the third consecutive game, quarterback Deshaun Watson led a winning drive for the Cleveland Browns.

Four days after he threw for the winning score in Cleveland's Week 3 home win over the Carolina Panthers, Watson led the Browns on another late-game drive. This time, he put the Browns in range for Andre Szmyt's 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left as Cleveland defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 on Thursday night.

Watson joined Brian Sipe as the second Browns quarterback since the 1970 merger to lead a winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime of three straight games, according to ESPN Research.

«It was electric. It was amazing,» Watson said. «From the time we came out pregame, it was super dope to be called out, hear the crowd and feel the energy. From start to finish, the crowd was in it, the energy of the stadium, we fed off them. To get a big victory against a divisional rival on primetime, this [is] what you dream about. This is what you work for. These are the things that you put that grind in during the summertime and training camp for nights like this. It was amazing.»

The victory, Cleveland's third straight after a 24-point road loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1, gave the Browns their first 3-1 start since 2021 and moved them into sole possession of the AFC North for the first time since Nov. 9, 2014.

Late turnarounds after slow starts defined Watson's previous two winning drives. But on Thursday night, Watson had one of his best first halves in a Browns uniform. Watson threw for 181 yards, his most in the first half of a game in Cleveland, as the offense scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives in the second quarter. The Browns led 21-10 at halftime, and their 21 points