Browns can wake up national media all the way over next two games

Through three games, we have a pretty good idea of who the Cleveland Browns are. Though, the next two games will give us a full idea. There were always going to be expectations this season with it being the fourth go around for general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski. Having the best […]

Brandon Little — Ohio State Buckeyes & Cleveland Browns News Writer

Sep 26, 2023 9:58 AM EDT

Through three games, we have a pretty good idea of who the Cleveland Browns are. Though, the next two games will give us a full idea.

There were always going to be expectations this season with it being the fourth go around for general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski. Having the best defense in the NFL has inflated the expectations within the defense, rightfully so if the offense grows consistency.

National media hasn’t fully put the Browns in the contender window, but they are waking up that the team could be very good. The next two weeks bring the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers to Cleveland, so the odds are going to be tough.

Through three games, the Browns should likely be undefeated, as the Steelers game is looking more and more like an outlier to me. I expect that the Browns win that game with Nick Chubb nine out of ten times. In Week 1 it was an injured Joe Burrow, and then it was a less-than-impressive second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett in Week 2. This past week was an average Ryan Tannehill that the Browns had to face. The point here is that the Browns haven’t worried about a quarterback like Lamar Jackson yet, that’s what they’ll get in Week 4.

If the defense is as good as it’s shown through three weeks, a lot more people could wake up on the Browns following the Week 4 result. Sitting at 3-1 heading into a game against the 49ers following the BYE in Week 5, Cleveland fans would likely treat the game like the playoffs.

Matching up with the Ravens is never easy and their offense got better. Rookie Zay Flowers is a problem at wide receiver and tight end Mark Andrews is one Cleveland is familiar with. They added more depth alongside Rashod Bateman with Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor too.

Week 6 coming out of the bye is a chance for the Browns against a top-2 contender in the NFC. It’ll be a big measuring stick against the 49ers and could be even bigger with the mentioned result of Week 4. Jim Schwartz’s defense will have a tough task with Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk.

In seasons past there was false hope that the Browns were a good team, but they ended up not being that. There were holes that were obvious on the team. You can’t say that with this team outside of the injury to Chubb, but they could get by with Jerome Ford.

With odds stacked against the Browns over the next couple of weeks, they can either take the leap or show they’re not ready. Either way, we are about to see if the 2023 Browns are for real or not.