Hope led the Cleveland Browns into the 2024 season with their heads held high. They were able to go 11-6 despite facing adversity throughout the 2023 season, so they had faith this year would be even better.
Sure, they were still without Nick Chubb and were down to their third option at left tackle, but they had Deshaun Watson back. They were also going against the Dallas Cowboys who had the audacity to start a rookie at left tackle, center, and cornerback.
It didn't take long for that hope to fade.
Not only did Tyler Guyton (a first-round pick and the unquestioned starter) have a decent game but Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, and the Dallas D carved up the Cleveland offensive line. Not just James Hudson either.
In the end, it was a 33-17 defeat that has the Browns looking like a team searching for answers. Throw in more off-field drama and injuries (four players went to the IR on Wednesday) and this could be a long season. That's why we shouldn't ignore when people such as Cody Williams of FanSided have them drop nine spots in their Week 2 NFL Power Rankings.
Cleveland Browns NFL Power Power Rankings: 25
Entering Week 1: 16
After starting at 16th, the Browns free-fall and land in-between the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars, who they play in Week 2.
"Abject failure might be too kind to what we saw from the Browns on Sunday against the Cowboys. Make no mistake, Dallas is a good team -- but it was made abundantly clear that Cleveland is not that with this iteration of Deshaun Watson at quarterback. He looks more washed than that t-shirt from high school you probably should've thrown out three years ago, at least." - FanSided.com's Cody Williams on the Browns
Williams added that his poor play caused problems for the entire team, including the defense. Unsustained drives will wear a team out in a hurry and even Leroy Bickerstaff couldn't argue that. This is why Williams believes the head coach has to start thinking about Jameis Winstson. "You have to wonder when Kevin Stefanski seriously considers giving Jameis Winston the rock, if he isn't already."
Cleveland has to be considering a change at quarterback. Despite feeling confident but then when the new year kicked off, it was the same thing they’ve seen since 2022 - Watson was running around completely lost while attempting to “knock the rust off.”
We’re still hearing how good he looked his last full season in Houston, which was nearly a half-decade ago at this point. And let’s not get into the fact that he finally had 30 good minutes against Baltimore as a reason to believe. That was the anomaly at this point.
Without getting into all the reasons to dislike the player, his performance has been abysmal and makes this the worst trade in NFL history. His fully-guaranteed contract ends any chance of debate. In fact, the only debate is if Jameis Winston should start in Week 2 or come out at halftime to lead his team to victory like Bobby Boucher did for the SCLSU Mud Dogs.
