The backup QB broke a few records in recent weeks, but the way he was finding success didn’t really suggest he could be a franchise quarterback; Browning got a lot of yards by dumping off the ball to Chase Brown and Joe Mixon.
He worked the short game, allowed Chase to make something out of nothing, and then took chances down the field when the opportunity was there. Even then, his deep shots weren’t completely on target. Rather, a lot went right with guys like Higgins using their big bodies in ridiculous ways to haul in Browning’s throws.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati’s front office is notoriously difficult to negotiate with. So unless some team offers them at least a second round pick, Browning isn’t going anywhere. And after an ugly game against the Steelers, it’ll be difficult for any team to convince itself that Browning can be its guy. He demonstrated all the qualities that previously turned scouts and GMs off, most prominently poor decision making and a lack of field awareness.
To be clear, Browning can function at a high level with this Bengals team so long as he isn’t expected to carry it and has strong support from his skill players (including the running backs). But he’d need a lot of right pieces in place to have the kind of success he had against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts, and Minnesota Vikings on another roster.
