The Opening Drive 9/15: Browns Must Understand Who They Have To Be To Win; Real Offensive Line Questions
There is a blueprint for the Browns success in 2025, they failed to follow it on Sunday.
Welcome to Monday's edition of The Opening Drive, a day after the Browns fell to a 41-17 defeat against the Baltimore Ravens, dropping to 0-2 on the season. To put it bluntly, the Browns have to play a specific brand of football to be competitive in 2025. The Browns' defense can be terrific at times and create real issues for some of the better offenses this league has to offer. It is the strong defensive play that will give this Browns team a chance to be in games every week.
Kevin Stefanski has gone about 2025’s preseason attempting to build this team under the mantra of calloused toughness, showing that he understands their path to wins will not always be pretty. Instead of relying of offensive firepower, success hinges on controlling the clock, winning the turnover battle, and capitalizing on opponents' errors through opportunistic takeaways, timely sacks, and a polished special teams play.
The Browns do not have much room for error in the required recipe for success. They need to play clean, efficient football to grind out wins against superior talent. Any self-inflicted wounds—penalties, turnovers, or mental lapses—amplify their vulnerabilities, turning winnable games into blowouts, which is precisely what happened on Sunday.
Sunday's 41-17 loss to the Ravens was the antithesis of the Browns' desired blueprint, riddled with costly errors, special teams gaffs, and an offensive line that could not hold up against the Ravens' attacking front. The Browns' defense started strong and limited Derrick Henry to just 23 yards on the day. The offense was not nearly as crisp as they were in week one, when Flacco had time to find answers in the passing game.
Still, the Browns' defense kept them in the game, even after a blocked punt, which set Baltimore up with a short field. However, a second-half interception from Flacco, multiple dropped passes, and a missed interception chance inside their own five-yard line compounded their issues, gifting the Ravens opportunities rather than seizing them. As things got away from the Browns, a fumble from Flacco as he was being dragged to the ground turned the game into a rout, dropping the Browns to 0-2.
The Browns can stay in games with their defense, but they will not win until they understand that they have to win on the margins. The self-inflicted mistakes, sometimes seemingly small, add up on this team quickly and underscore why they must eliminate such lapses to salvage the season.
This week has to be about understanding who they have to be to win. They have to play with that calloused toughness Stefanski tried to instill this offseason, but complementary football, not beating themselves and seizing opportunities when your opponent does slip up, must fall under that umbrella. It's all in the recipe, and unfortunately, they need every ingredient; otherwise, the results will continue to look very similar to what we saw on Sunday.
The message is simple this week. Know who you have to be to win and be that, and that only. No room to miss the mark.
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One of the bright spots Sunday was the debut of Quinshon Judkins, who looked as fast and strong as advertised, rushing for 61 yards on 10 carries. The rookie made a whopping 57 of his 61 yards happen after contact in his debut. That’s a strong 5.70 YAC/attempt. With Judkins in place, there is a chance for Sampson to slide into his role and create a nice one-two punch in the Browns' backfield. The problem is whether or not the team's veteran offensive line will be able to hold up and perform in a way that allows them to maximize their potential.
Flacco had a tough return to Baltimore on Sunday, but the more concerning development was the offensive line's ability to give him time to throw the football. The Ravens did an good job of taking away Flacco's first option and creating pressure before he could find answers further into his progressions.
We knew this offensive line was not young, but there was a belief that they could return to a level of play that would help the Browns' run game get back to what it was before the Watson trade.
On Sunday, they looked overmatched by the Ravens, and their inability to give Flacco the time to throw raises questions of whether this veteran laden group will be able to do the job. The Browns do not have a wealth of young linemen waiting in the wings to step in and raise the level of play.
There are things they can do to try to help Flacco mitigate the pass rush, but the question of how much this group has left in the tank collectively is becoming a genuine concern. We will break that all down in the coming 24 hours.
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