The Cleveland Browns have won a Week 1 home opener for the first time since Jeff Garcia was the quarterback in 2004. While it was ugly in a rain-effected duel of lackluster play between Deshaun Watson and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, Jim Schwartz made his name known. Myles Garrett, Grant Delpit, and others made a statement in this game against the back-to-back AFC North champs.
The Browns now start the season 1-0 in back-to-back seasons. It was not pretty offensively, but the Browns rode Nick Chubb to the finish line, as he rushed for 106 yards on 18 touches. Defensively, the Browns held the highest-paid professional athlete to just 82 yards on 14-of-31 passing as they sacked him twice as well in this slopfest.
Buy Browns TicketsWhat can we take away from this Week 1 victory today before we celebrate a victory Monday tomorrow? Welcome to the first 4 Downs of the 2023 regular season. It is good to be back.
First Down: Good things happen when these cornerbacks can just line up and play
Last year, the Browns were nowhere near the top of the league in Cover-1 coverage. This preseason under Schwartz, they were the top team in the league in how much they ran Cover-1. And that carried over in this game against the Bengals as Schwartz let Denzel Ward, Greg Newsome II, and Martin Emerson line up in the face of the receivers and battle play after play.
And the result?
Tee Higgins was held without a catch on eight targets. Zero catches, eight targets.
Ja’Marr Chase finished the game with just 39 yards and five catches on nine targets.
Tyler Boyd was held to two catches for 10 yards.
Good things happen when these cornerbacks do not have to constantly communicate pre-snap and can just line up and play. And they proved today they can hang with the best of them.
As the Browns’ cornerbacks and Bengals’ wide receivers continue their rivalry, Ward, Newsome, and Emerson get an emphatic win in this matchup.
Second Down: Weather provides leeway, but Watson needs to be better
Sure, the weather was messy and the praised Burrow had an even worse game.
But there is no doubt that Deshaun Watson needs to play better. He took sacks he should not have taken. He continued a trend of overextending and throwing footballs at the feet of open receivers. He even had speedster Marquise Goodwin open twice down the field but could not put enough juice on the football.
The $230 million quarterback finished the game with a stat line of 16-of-29 for 154 yards, one touchdown, and one interception through the air. He added another 45 yards and a score on the ground.
Watson did, however, score two touchdowns on drives where the Browns desperately needed points: one right before the half and the other to put the dagger in the Bengals. However, what we saw from Watson was not sustainable play, was not the play of a guy making $46 million a year, and flat out needs to be sharper.
He gets a small pass because of the weather which impacted both quarterbacks, but the Browns still need more.
Third Down: The defensive line lived up to the offseason hype
Last year, no player had over 30 pressures besides the All-Pro in Myles Garrett (who had 73). Newcomers Za’Darius Smith and Ogbo Okoronkwo had 116 combined. All offseason we heard how dynamic the Cleveland pass rush would be under the guidance of Schwartz.
And they lived up to the hype.
While we will not have pressure numbers until tomorrow, both Garrett and Okoronkwo came up with sacks. Garrett and Smith each had four hits on Burrow, while Okoronkwo added another off the bench. Even Delpit got into the action on the blitz.
The Bengals even spent valuable money to upgrade their offensive line this offseason, and it did not seem to matter to the Browns. This unit might be the best in the NFL.
Fourth Down: Grant Delpit is a budding star
The Browns have a budding star in their secondary, and he is not one of the three talented cornerbacks. Safety Grant Delpit, who saw a mini-breakout at the end of last season, announced himself loudly in this game against the Bengals.
You could find him making tackles before the sticks, flying downhill in run support, providing pressure on the blitz, and even breaking up passes in man coverage against Chase. In this game, Delpit finished with a team-high eight tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass defended, and one hit on Burrow.
As he plays through the last year of his contract this season, Delpit is off to a great start on the path of making himself a lot of money. He was all over the field for Schwartz’s defense in this game, and after the way he ended last year, he is a budding star in the Cleveland secondary.
Extra point: We did not have to talk about the kicker until now!
We didn’t have to talk about the kicker in this one. The veteran Dustin Hopkins was calm and consistent, splitting the uprights with ease on each of his three field goals and two extra points. That is all the Browns need. That’s it.
And, knock on wood, Hopkins fulfilled that need.
That’s all I want to say about the kicker. For once.
Two-point conversion: Dawand Jones enters, what to make of Jedrick Wills
Point One: Dawand Jones rises to the occasion
The best way to know if an offensive lineman is having a good game without watching closely away from the football is if you did not hear his name from the broadcast. And after veteran Jack Conklin suffered what looked to be a season-ending injury, we did not hear a peep about the fourth round rookie Dawand Jones.
After a strong preseason showing, Jones carried that confidence into the regular season. Watson was sacked three times in this one, but none looked to be on Jones. Now likely starting the rest of the way out, the Browns will count on the rookie out of Ohio State to be a force right away.
Point Two: What to make of Jedrick Wills’ performance vs. Bengals
On the flip side, the Bengals exploited Jedrick Wills time and time again. And it appears that his issues came down to one area in this game: he’s oversetting. A lot.
Against a guy like Trey Hendrickson, it is completely understandable to favor the outside shoulder as he can bend with the best of them. However, in doing so, Wills set way too wide against Hendrickson, leaving a lane for the Pro Bowler to adjust and take the inside track.
Especially with a quarterback like Watson, getting beat along the outside track is not that big of an issue as it usually leaves a pocket to step up into. However, when beat inside, you are forcing your quarterback completely out of structure.
Wills looked good as a run blocker, and even threw a key block on the Watson touchdown run to end the half. But he has to narrow his set and stay on his linear track. It’s easier to adjust outside than it is to change directions and adjust inside.
He’s your starting left tackle this season. But it’s up to Wills how much money he wants to make in the future.
