Browns Week 1: Cleveland’s identity is now in question

The Cleveland Browns’ Week 1 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguarsrevealed plenty about the team beyond what the final score showed. There were plenty of assumptions made about this team heading into the season. Many of those assumptions were validated in Week 1, while others told a different story about

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What is the story about?

The Cleveland Browns’ Week 1 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguarsrevealed plenty about the team beyond what the final score showed. There were plenty of assumptions made about this team heading into the season. Many of those assumptions were validated in Week 1, while others told a different story about where this team is currently at.

Many expected Cleveland’s defense to be the team’s biggest strength and the key to keeping them competitive this season, but Week 1 showed that may not be the case. The

defense allowed 24 points and 234 yards in the first half alone. They struggled to get any pressure on Trevor Lawrence. While the offense did little to help them, it was even more disappointing to see how the defense performed. The Jaguars won 13 games last season and have a strong offense, so this performance may not indicate what the defense will look like in the coming weeks. Still, the initial showing was far from promising.

On the offensive side of the ball, there wasn’t much positivity going into the season about Deshaun Watson and the passing game. That feeling was clearly validated by what happened in this game. There was optimism that the offensive line would improve from last season with the addition of several new players, but the group continued to struggle in Week 1. Again, it is not truly indicative of what they will look like for the rest of the season. It was difficult to find many positives from the group, outside of a strong performance from Austin Barber, who was the highest-graded PFF rookie offensive lineman in Week 1. Hopefully Barber can inspire the rest of the offensive line as the team prepares for their Week 2 game matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

For now, the Browns identity, which was assumed to be a good defense and solid rushing attack, is in question, added to all the questions about the quarterback position.

Let me know what you think in the comments – What did the Week 1 loss reveal about where the Browns are at?