Not ideal. The 2026 Cleveland Browns season opener was a disaster in a lot of ways. It would be lazy to say that everyone expected this to happen because no one thought it would be this bad. Beating the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were in the playoffs last season and are projected to be back in the postseason again this year, was not going to be easy, but the Browns didn’t give themselves a fair chance to cause an upset.
Four thoughts from Sunday’s dismal performance:
1st Down: Offense was offensive but it’s a work in progress
Going into the season, expectations
for the Cleveland Browns offense were low. Despite the influx of talent, from revamping the offensive line and wide receiver room it would be hard to evaluate how the offense would look because the quarterback room could be the worst in the entire league.
The stats will say quarterback Deshaun Watson played fine, but the film says otherwise. He held the ball too long, wasn’t as decisive as he should and lacked drive in terms of throwing the ball. Watson will take what the defense gives him and not take deep shots down the field, which limits an offense with a low ceiling.
Shedeur Sanders is someone that fans want to see because he’s popular and well-liked (something Watson isn’t), but I don’t see the offense getting any better with him either. Could Sanders provide excitement to a fanbase that needs it? Yes, but at this point this fanbase would be excited about anything.
The run blocking for the offensive line isn’t where it needs to be, but to be fair, this is a group with five new starters.
Rookie Denzel Boston had a nice touchdown grab when the game was out of reach.
Will the offense get better? Maybe. Maybe not. Keep in mind, this is a new offensive scheme that should get better as the season progresses. Hopefully.
2nd Down: Defense has an identity issue
Going into the season, the Browns defense was considered to be a strength despite losing defensive end Myles Garrett and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Sunday, the defense looked anything but a strength. The pass rush was lacking, the secondary was picked apart, and they struggled to get a stop. Cornerback Tyson Campbell talked about the scheme and how defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg wanted to be more diverse:
As mentioned, the Browns defense spent more time in zone today than they usually do, but the defense doesn’t have the players to run zone as frequently as they did. It’s not a bad thing to diversify and change your scheme, however, you have to pick and choose when to do it. This defense has blue-chip talent, and it’s clear that this unit needs to be better after having a performance like this.
How do they fix it? Go back to what works, but be more diverse and not as predictable.
3rd Down: It’s Week 1.
It’s fair to say out of all the Week 1 performances in the NFL, the Cleveland Browns had the worst performance. However, it’s Week 1. It’s the NFL. Week-to-week league (Insert fans “weak-to-weak” joke here). Yes, the Browns looked unprepared on both sides of the ball. The coaching wasn’t what it needed to be, and the players didn’t perform the way they were supposed to. Could things change? Absolutely. However, a performance like this didn’t do much to encourage fans, and it’s up to the team to fix it.
4th Down: Things are bad, but it doesn’t mean it will stay this way
Let me get this out of the way. I grew up a Seattle Seahawks fan. My parents weren’t diehard Browns fans so it made it easier. As I scrolled through social media, I saw a post saying “Today felt like a low point in Cleveland Browns fandom.” To be honest, today wasn’t a low point. It was a bad loss, but this team has had numerous low points since they’ve come back, and today wasn’t one of those lowest points if you were a fan.
That seems like an overreaction. Things will eventually get better for this team considering that this team has talent. You can choose to believe that things will get better or choose to believe things will get worse. The team has put a winning product out there before, even if it seems so long ago, so it’s not hard for the team to get back to it.
Having young, talented players is always a good starting point for a team looking to turn things around, even if Week 1 was tough to watch.
(Editor’s addition: I’m a Lord of the Rings fan, and 4th down had me thinking of this clip, so it gets added.)
After a night of sleep, what are some of your thoughts on Week 1?
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