Denzel Boston — Week 4: Sixty Yards to the Fourteen

Seven all against the Steelers, 10 38 left in the second quarter, first and 10 at the Cleveland 26 after a punt. Deshaun Watson threw deep left for Denzel Boston, 29 yards in the air, and Boston ran another 31 after the catch to the Pittsburgh 14. 60 yards, +3.6 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 11.6 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it, the most of any Browns pass. Three snaps later Quinshon Judkins scored from the two, and Cleveland led 14 to seven.

The line: seven targets, four catches, 89 yards, three first downs, +1.5 expected points on the targets. The nine was third and six at the Cleveland 42 in the second quarter, converted, on the drive that ended in Harold Fannin's touchdown. The 15 was second and nine from the Cleveland two in the fourth quarter, up eight, out to the 17. Two first-quarter throws went deep and fell incomplete, the second 41 yards in the air on third and nine. And on the second snap of the fourth quarter, up 11, a deep middle throw his way was intercepted at the Pittsburgh 23; a pass-interference flag came off on replay review, and Pittsburgh drove for a touchdown.

Seven targets tied Judkins, one behind KC Concepcion's eight. Five of Watson's throws traveled 20 or more yards in the air, and four of them went to Boston.

Back in June the preview's read on Boston was a six-four second-round pick with a red-zone profile. Thursday his work came between the twenties: no target inside the Pittsburgh 20 that counted. Four games: 22 targets, 13 catches, 284 yards, the most on the Browns, and two touchdowns.

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_Data via nflverse._