Kevin Stefanski shows alliance to Deshaun Watson by downplaying Jameis Winston

Cleveland Browns quarterback Jameis Winston finished Sunday's win over the Baltimore Ravens with 300 yards passing, which is a mark Deshaun Watson never passed in his 19 games as starting quarterback for the franchise.

Watson signed a five-year, $230 million guaranteed contract with the Browns in 2022. Winston makes just a shade under that – $4 million. The former No. 1 overall pick was brought in not to threaten Watson, but to work with him and provide Cleveland with quarterback depth should (when) their high-priced starter go down. However, he has done far more than that in just one game under center.

Watson was well on his way to getting benched, or one would hope. His play was shoddy at best and he was booed off the field despite rupturing his Achilles. Browns fans are bad, but they're not mean. It was Watson's off-field transgressions, namely the dozens of sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Jameis Winston impresses Browns fans, but not Kevin Stefanski

Not only did Cleveland upset Baltimore on Sunday, but their offense looked competent for the first time all season. Heck, they scored over 20 points! Surely, this deserves a mid-article round of applause.

Winston saw Sunday's game as an opportunity, and he made the most of it. On Wednesday, Jameis revealed he believes he can still be a top-tier NFL starter. For the remainder of this season, he has a chance to prove that. Head coach Kevin Stefanski wasn't as impressed with what he saw.

"I thought he played well," Stefanski said, per ESPN. "I thought the protection was outstanding all day. The guys really took the challenge of that, and I thought he got through his reads and guys got open. He made good decisions. Wasn't perfect. He's not going to play perfect. I'm not going to coach perfect. But I thought he played well."

Does someone need to show Stefanski the stats? Sure, Winston didn't put together the best quarterback performance in Browns history, but it's a massive improvement over Watson.

It's unclear exactly why Stefanski stuck with Watson as long as he did. The initial thought was that, perhaps, someone in the Browns front office was pulling the strings and forcing the head coach to start Watson despite his best interest. Yet, maybe this is just who Stefanski is.

The Browns committed to Deshaun, and so did he. Now that the ride is all but over, Stefanski is having a tough time moving on.