Browns Week 2 loss drops them in the power rankings

With the Cleveland Browns falling in a disappointing outcome to the Pittsburgh Steelers, they’ve fallen in the power rankings due to the performance. Cleveland fell to the Steelers by a score of 26-22 in a game where the defense allowed just 12 points. Deshaun Watson turned the ball over three times and two of them […]

Brandon Little — Ohio State Buckeyes & Cleveland Browns News Writer

Sep 20, 2023 7:56 AM EDT

With the Cleveland Browns falling in a disappointing outcome to the Pittsburgh Steelers, they’ve fallen in the power rankings due to the performance.

Cleveland fell to the Steelers by a score of 26-22 in a game where the defense allowed just 12 points. Deshaun Watson turned the ball over three times and two of them were returned for a touchdown.

After being No. 14 in the power rankings last week, the Browns fell to No. 18 with their first loss of the season. Cleveland is now 1-1 as a result.

Last week: loss at Pittsburgh, 26-22

Next week: vs. Tennessee

The dynamics of Cleveland’s roster change significantly without a dominant, hammering force at the running back position, which feels odd to say about a team that was supposed to be so analytically derived. There are plenty of options for the Browns to consider via trade (we’d discussed Saquon Barkley possibly being available on the MMQB podcast this week). Would they lean in that direction? Still, this was a tough night for a Browns team that had so dominantly stepped out into Week One. The AFC North is a slog once again. Surprise.” – Conor Orr, Sports Illustrated

Cleveland sits in fourth out of AFC North teams in the power rankings. The Baltimore Ravens are at No. 7 with the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 8 despite being 0-2. With the win over the Browns, the Steelers sit at No. 19 just a single spot ahead of Cleveland.

Baltimore won against Cincinnati 27-24 to drop the Bengals to 0-2 while moving to 2-0 themselves.

Now the Browns and Steelers are both 1-1 ahead of the winless Bengals and behind the undefeated Ravens.

Cleveland hosts the Tennessee Titans in an important game next Sunday where quarterback Deshaun Watson has to show they can bounce back, they’ll have to do it without running back Nick Chubb since he’s out for the season.

Check out the rest of SI’s rankings here.