The Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears faced off in their first preseason game of the 2026 season, with the home team sitting many key players while the visitors were trying to evaluate some key players. The final score was far from the most important thing for the Browns, but DBNers spent the game chatting through all the details of the game and noticing a lot of key things.
Final score: 34-10 Bears with the victory.
A few key takeaways from Cleveland’s first preseason game under HC Todd Monken:
Deshaun Watson crisp, then not; far from perfect
The
game against the Bears gave Watson a chance to clearly establish himself as the QB leader heading into the Buffalo Bills’ joint practices. To start the game, it looked like that was very possible as Watson looked comfortable in the pocket, made some good throws across the middle, and his only incompletion was a drop by TE Harold Fannin Jr.
Then as things sped up, Watson looked more uncomfortable, and the offense stopped producing. The QB was not the only problem (see below), but the veteran left the door wide-open for Shedeur Sanders to run through next week. On 4th down, Watson failed to get the ball out quickly, leading to a fumble and turnover (line seemed to be quick setting, expecting a quick throw):
A breakdown of the data:
OLine struggles, especially in run blocking
It was not surprising to see the new Cleveland OLine looking better than last year; almost anything would be, but it wasn’t pretty as a whole. Rookie Spencer Fano, who has had a very good training camp, was left in much longer than the rest of the starters and didn’t look great overall.
Rushing up the middle was almost non-existent, and the second string looked outmatched by the second and third stringers from Chicago. The run game, as a whole, just did not look good.
Pass protection was okay at times, but the line lacks power for sure.
Rookie WRs, especially KC Concepcion, look good
Monken looks like he plans to make Concepcion his Zay Flowers, with the ball in his hands in as many ways and times as possible. Concepcion caught three passes, including a pop pass, and took an end-around for a touchdown. His speed is a real threat and Monken’s use of rub routes will open up things for his quickness as well.
Denzel Boston had just one reception, but his size-and-speed combo fits perfectly along with Concepcion.
Chris Edmunds struggles; Michael Coats Jr. does not
A lot of questions in the Browns defensive backfield, including whether they will keep four or five safeties and the cornerback depth chart after Denzel Ward, Tyson Campbell, and Myles Harden. The more experienced Edmunds did not help his cause in the safety room, but UDFA cornerback Coats did. Not only did Coats have an interception, but he had a nice pass breakup as well:
Coats did leave the game with an ankle injury in the second half, something to watch.
Todd Monken aggressive on 4th down
For fans who were hoping that Kevin Stefanski’s penchant for going for it on 4th down had left with him will likely be disappointed. As it is almost universally around the league, Monken seems likely to go for it regularly. Preseason isn’t always indicative with 4th down attempts, but Monken didn’t “take the points” or “punt it away and play defense.”
Where is the pass rush?
Given the Browns bringing in a number of old pass rushers, it seems the team is not happy with their depth at the defensive end position. Except for a few snaps against former Cleveland OT Jedrick Wills, the Browns pass rush was mostly toothless in the game. Probably not a big deal, with vanilla plans, but something to watch with DE Myles Garrett traded away.
Special teams no longer ugly
A big return from Concepcion was great, but overall not having terrible plays on special teams, which normally includes a bunch of flags, was nice.
Defense got gashed, concerning for now
As a whole, the defense wasn’t terrible, but there were quite a few gash plays where defenders were out of position or overpursuing. Given the Garrett departure and replacing Jim Schwartz with Mike Rutenberg, Cleveland fans have a right to be concerned that the unit that carried the squad for a couple of years is going to take a step back. Far from certain, but for now a concern.
Shedeur Sanders with the good and bad
Playing against a lot of backups, Sanders needed to not look bad, and he didn’t to start the second half; then, similar to Watson but against more backups, things got worse. A couple of good throws on his first drive, including slightly drifting in the pocket to make this throw:
While incomplete, the ball placement to Gage Larvadain on the sideline was nice in the Cover-2 hole near the end of the third quarter. Overall, everything felt slow with Sanders, including time in the huddle.
Sanders’ overthrow, by about five yards, led to an interception. Looks like a terrible throw, but always a chance that the receiver (Malachi Corley) ran the wrong depth, or a different depth than Sanders expected. The dots seem to indicate that it was an overthrow:
Dillon Gabriel took over after the interception.
What were your takeaways from the Browns preseason game versus the Bears?
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