Cleveland Browns’ Week 1 Collapse Overshadows Joe Flacco’s Strong Return

NFL football is back, and the Cleveland Browns took less than a complete game to get into midseason form. By midseason form, I mean being the most embarrassing organization across the four major sports in the US.

It wasn’t all bad for the Browns at Huntington Bank Field; there were actually many positive signs, but the flaws are the only things that will be remembered going into next week.

Joe Flacco looked stellar in his return to the Brown and Orange. He looked comfortable running Kevin Stefanski’s offense and got many unproven receiving options involved throughout the game.

The receivers showed some positive outlooks in this one. Cedric Tillman was a great go-to option across the middle of the field, especially when the Browns found themselves in third-and-long situations.

Harrold Fannin was a delightful surprise today, leading the team with nine targets. Stefanski used him in a ton of different packages today: as a fullback, in the slot, and lining up with the team’s other tight end, David Njoku. Browns GM Andrew Berry and coach Stefanski loved Fannin in the pre-draft process, and that clearly shows with the amount of work he saw in Week 1.

Unfortunately for these two, and Jerry Jeudy, drops were a massive problem in this one. In the middle of the third quarter, Flacco’s pass to Jeudy bounced right out of his hands and into the arms of Bengals safety Jordan Battle. This led to the Bengals' only points in the second half.

The very next drive, Fannin dropped a very catchable pass on third and five near the boundary, and Jeudy dropped a pass that hit him right in the facemask on the following play, leading to a turnover on downs.

Then, late in the fourth quarter, as the Browns were trying to complete a two-minute drill, Tillman had his turn with the drops, fumbling a pass right to the Bengals, essentially sealing the game.

Cleveland left so many points on the field today, and it ruined what could have been a nice opener for this unproven receiving core. Luckily for them, they weren’t close to being the biggest problem child today.

Andre Szmyt missed an extra point and a 36-yard field goal. This might be his first and last game with the Browns. Despite every other flaw that happened today, you just can’t leave those points out there. With an opening schedule that is insanely difficult for the Browns, this game felt like a must-win, and Szmyt will be taking home a ton of the blame.

Speaking of players taking the blame, Dawand Jones had another rough showing, getting beaten eight times today, giving up six pressures, and getting dominated in the run game. I’m not sure Cornelius Lucas would be a better option, but the Browns need to improve at tackle to establish a running game.

It’s a shame, too, since Dylan Sampson seemed to have an excellent rookie showcase. He didn’t have many holes in the running game, but showed tremendous receiving ability out of the backfield, making many nice catches in this one. Sampson completely outperformed Jerome Ford, and with Quinshon Judkins hopefully joining this backfield soon, we won’t be dealing with Ford for much longer.

The biggest shame of today was that the defense played about as well as could be expected. Myles Garrett is an absolute game wrecker (duh), and the rest of the defensive front had a solid Week 1 against an improved Bengals front.

The secondary looked great against an elite Bengals receiving core, too. I even give some credit to Greg Newsome, who made a couple of nice plays on Ja'Marr Chase.

Carson Schwesinger was the big winner today on the defense. He led the team in tackles and looks to be a fantastic replacement for Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. He showed his elite NFL speed, and when he gets moving, he can lay an absolute hit stick as well. If JOK is ever able to make a return for Cleveland, the Browns might have the best linebacker duo in the league.

The Browns head to Baltimore next week, where they open as 12.5-point underdogs. They showed they could be better than expected this year, but they can’t continue to shoot themselves in the foot like they did today with their upcoming schedule of Baltimore, Green Bay, Detroit, Minnesota, and Pittsburgh.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Browns, and if the losses start to pile up, even good QB play from Flacco won’t keep his or Stefanski’s job safe for long.