This Sunday, the Cleveland Browns take on the Cincinnati Bengals. Below, we analyze a few advantages, disadvantages, or general thoughts about the two teams before getting to our predictions for the game.
Is the Joe Flacco Magic Still There?
The Joe Flacco run in 2023 was incredible as a fan. Signed off the street after basically staying loose with his kids, I was in Los Angeles at the beginning of December that year for my first ever road game. After Cleveland had been struggling for weeks to muster anything offensively, Flacco delivered
a strike to former Browns receiver Amari Cooper on the first drive, and then finished it off with a touchdown pass to an open Jerome Ford after that. It felt really weird having Flacco as the team’s starting quarterback before that game started, since he was a long-time rival with the Ravens. But everyone caught Flacco Fever, and I saw a quarterback who, at times, looked even better than many of his years with the Baltimore Ravens. He was free to sling it, for better or for worse.
The Browns ended up losing that first game that Flacco started, but led the team to victories in his next four starts to secure a playoff spot for Cleveland — against Jacksonville, Chicago, Houston, and the Jets. In each game, he had over 300 yards passing and was basically averaging 3 touchdown passes per game. He also threw at least 1 interception in every game. Unfortunately, it all came crashing down in the opening round of the playoffs (but it wasn’t all Flacco’s fault). He earned the comeback player of the year award, but the Browns never even offered him a contract in 2024, which goes to show you how much leeway the team was trying to give Deshaun Watson as they desperately hoped their investment would work out. It didn’t, and they finally gave up. Now, we’re back to Flacco Fever. Is the magic still there? He looked good this preseason again, and I’m optimistic that he’ll elevate the Browns’ offense again.
Flacco gets his first crack against a Bengals defense that looked pretty bad during the preseason, although they did get Trey Hendrickson re-signed for the regular season. Cincinnati’s run defense looked particularly porous, so Cleveland should no doubt try to bank on the Bengals keying in on the run, which can open up some big playaction passing opportunities.
A Defensive Masterpiece or Letdown?
The Browns’ defense opened the 2023 season with one of the most dominant performances you can get against the Cincinnati Bengals. As the 2023 season went on, despite their defensive ranking, there were some cracks in the armor for Jim Schwartz’ defense. In 2024, I was hopeful that Cleveland would dial back the aggressiveness to the point where teams couldn’t use it against them by baiting them up, but it didn’t really unfold that way. On top of that, there were just a lot of weird things that happened throughout the season, including things like Martin Emerson not being able to stop anyone despite often having good coverage. The big play often victimized the Browns, wasting all of the good efforts on many plays.
This year, Cleveland made their two biggest changes via the draft with the selections of DT Mason Graham and LB Carson Schwesinger. I’m really eager to see how those two complement the rest of the defense. DE Isaiah McGuire and DE Alex Smith have also looked really good in limited action. Could we see the Browns return to their 2023 form, but even better with those two new cogs up the middle? It’s early, so of course I’m optimistic that we’ll see something closer to a masterpiece than a letdown. But you truly do need those samples of regular season action to assess if they can pull it off in 2025.
Quick Hitters
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz talked about how improved the team’s defensive line is from a year ago:
“Well, the biggest thing is, our defensive line is much, much improved over last year and I think we’ve got back to our personality. You know, we saw it in…I think we started seeing it back in OTAs. We showed good signs of it in training camp and I think, even though we didn’t have our guys on the field a lot during preseason games, we saw it in the practices and we saw it in the preseason games, and that’s a huge, huge thing for us because it’s hard to win versus Ja’ Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and (Andrei) Iosivas and (Mike) Gesicki and those guys with a quarterback like Burrow. So, we have to really…we have to win up front, and that’s a big part of it. Guys like Mason Graham, we brought in here to give us interior rush, brought in guys like Maliek Collins to give us interior rush. You know, those are big things. We know they can help on the outside part of the field with guys like Myles (Garrett), they can chip, they can leave tight ends in the protection, but our ability to win inside in this game is going to go a long way to coming out with a win, because the ball comes out so fast, and shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and those guys are closer to the play. So, those guys need to step up for us. They need to win those matchups. And when we play our best, our D-line leads us there as our engine.”
Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone talked about the adjustment to the kickoff rules this year:
“Yeah, so they made a change with the formation. You’re able to have another guy off the 35-yard line. So, you can have a guy outside the hash off the 35, a guy inside the hash off the 35, and then a guy outside the hash on the other 35. So, you’re allowed to have three players that are not on the 35-yard line, but they each have to be in a separate zone. You could see a little bit more variation there. I think that, like I said before, I think there’s going to be a high, high, high percentage of kicks that are returned.”
Some other notes to look forward to:
- Can the Joe Flacco to Jerry Jeudy combination flourish, like Flacco did with Amari Cooper in 2023? Jeudy was able to thrive with Jameis Winston last year.
- We got a taste of Flacco to rookie tight end Harold Fannin in that last preseason game. The prospect of Hannin is exciting in this offense, but, I feel like I’ve seen signs that he’s a bit of a bobbler on the ball initially hitting his hands.
- At running back, I don’t know what to expect. The natural assumption is that Jerome Ford will be the lead back, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Dylan Sampson suddenly has the lead back role, or if “Rocket” Sanders sees significant action. I don’t think the team has to be set on a lead back concept right now.
- Outside of Cleveland, I’m still eager to see what Nick Chubb does for Houston in Week 1.
- I still like what Denzel Ward does against Ja’Marr Chase on any given play, and Cincinnati’s offensive line might not give Joe Burrow the time he needs to throw.
- Even if Andre Szmyt misses a kick, I’m not going to have it in my mind that he’s in his own head like I would have with Dustin Hopkins.
- It’s cool in Cleveland. Expect the gametime weather to be sunny and 63 degrees, no rain.
Predictions
Here are predictions from multiple staff members at DBN:
Chris Pokorny: “I’m compelled by the Browns’ offense surprising people, and their defense getting back to form. The Bengals have shown some holes, have gotten off to slow starts for several years in a row, and were a bad team last year too before ripping off five wins to close out the season. A lot of people are looking at Cleveland’s scheduled to start the year and saying, ‘That’ll be tough to overcome,’ but this is a new year. Whose to say that Cleveland doesn’t turn heads in Week 1? This is a great opponent to kick things off against to assess the state of the team.” Browns 27, Bengals 17
Jared Mueller: “Cincinnati has not done well against Cleveland, not done well to start seasons under Zac Taylor and has zero defense and a suspect offensive line. They’ll be able to score points but the Browns defense will score as well this week. One of only a couple of early-season victories for the Orange and Brown, but we will take it.” Browns 24, Bengals 21
Thomas Moore: “Ready or not, the Cleveland Browns open the 2025 regular season on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
After a year in exile, quarterback Joe Flacco returns to run Cleveland’s offense, which will look familiar as head coach Kevin Stefanski is reverting back to relying on the running game and two tight end alignments. How well that works depends on the effectiveness of an aging offensive line, the ability of the run game to get going behind a pair of rookies and Jerome Ford, and Flacco not turning the ball over.
While the Bengals present a problem for Cleveland’s defense, the Bengals are just 1-11 under head coach Zac Taylor in the first two weeks of the season, and the Browns have won six of the last seven meetings against the Bengals in Cincinnati.
In a season where many are expecting doom and gloom, the Browns hold off the doubters for at least one week as they win a close one.” Browns 24, Bengals 21
Barry Shuck: “It is difficult to tell what this year’s version of the Browns will become. They lost 14 games last year. That is what they are right this minute. However, teams reverse field all the time. The 2016 Los Angeles Rams went 4-12-0, and then won 55 games the next five years, including a win in Super Bowl 56. The 1983 New York Football Giants went 3-12-1 and almost fired head coach Bill Parcells. Three years later, they went 14-2-0 and won Super Bowl 21. The NFL is set up to allow every team the ability to rebound every year. The Browns have improvements all across this roster, but is it enough? As long as the offensive line remains upright, this offense should improve from last year’s disaster. The tight end group is excellent, but after Jerry Jeudy in the receiver room, are there any playmakers at all? Don’t get me started on the RB group. The defense now sports a new DT, three new LBs, a new starting S and slot CB, plus a new long snapper and kicker. Oh, and quarterback. I have to see what is what before I get going on the bandwagon. Hoping for the best. I think Cincinnati will push Baltimore to the very end for the division and could win 11 or 12 games.” Bengals 37, Browns 17
Curtiss Brown: “Out of all the possible opening matchups that they could get, Cincinnati is probably not thrilled to go against Cleveland to start their season. Cleveland has given Cincinnati fits since head coach Kevin Stefanski has been in charge and I expect it continue this year. Cleveland’s defensive line is deeper and better than last year, and can cause problems for a suspect Cincinnati offensive line. Defensively? The unit has a new defensive coordinator in Al Golden but the defense is still the same (minus a few names) and looks to be worse on paper. Cleveland’s offense isn’t slated to be great but if they are able to move the ball on this already suspect defense, that’s not really a good sign.
The Browns aren’t slated to be good but they will cause issues for teams because the coaching staff is good enough (yes I said it) and the vibe around the team feels different than last year, more energetic and a bit chip on their shoulder. Cincinnati isn’t a great team, it’s an okay team that has major flaws that can be exposed based on matchup. Cleveland is one of those teams that can exposed them. Close game that comes down to the wire and Cincinnati finds a way to extinguish their early start demons.” Bengals 28, Browns 24
Who do you think will win, Browns fans? Let us know in the comments section below.
