Cleveland Browns Beat Green Bay Packers for Biggest NFL Upset This Season

Going into the fourth quarter of this matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers, the tone of this article was trending in a far more negative direction. But behind another masterful performance by Jim Schwartz's defense, and a redemption story for Andre Szmyt, the Browns come away with their first win of the 2025 season.

Cleveland currently has the best rush defense in the NFL. Josh Jacobs was bottled up to only 30 yards on 16 carries today. The defensive line has taken massive steps forward from last season, and they could carry this team.

The secondary has some pretty glaring weaknesses, but their job is made so much easier with a defensive line that’s able to generate five sacks in a game. The Browns nailed their picks with Mason Graham and Carson Schwesinger, and this defense has its swagger back.

The offense, on the other hand, well, they didn’t lose the game for Cleveland. Let’s start with the positive. Quinshon Judkins is doing his best job to fill a Nick Chubb-sized hole in this rushing game. He’s running behind one of the worst offensive lines in all of football, but he runs so incredibly hard.

He has a special first step, and runs like his life depends on it, and was the only reason this offense was able to muster any points at all in this one.

Joe Flacco’s passing game is starting to make Dillon Gabriel murmurs grow louder. I already harped on how foul the offensive line is, but the receivers are just as big an issue. It’s not a friendly situation for any quarterback to come into, but we know what we’ve got with Flacco. He’s seeing the field pretty slowly, a complete statue in the backfield, and his decision-making is too hit or miss.

Beating the Packers, who many thought were the best team in football before this game, doesn’t change the fact that the Browns have a lot of work to become a playoff team. I don’t want to see any more of a 40-year-old quarterback; let’s see what Gabriel can do.

Of course, the star of the game was Szmyt. After a week one game against the Bengals where he almost single-handedly lost the game, he single-handedly won this one for the offense today. Szmyt burying a 55-yard game-winner is precisely what makes the NFL so great. It’s a season of ebbs and flows, so Stefanski trusting Szmyt, and not letting the moment be too big for him, might have saved the Browns' season.

It doesn’t get any easier for Cleveland with a trip lined up for Detroit next week, and those Lions might be looking to get revenge for a Tigers team currently feeling the heat from Cleveland’s baseball team.