The Panthers are suddenly carrying real offensive momentum into Sunday’s matchup with the Browns, and that’s the biggest reason this game feels different from the usual early-season grind.
Carolina opened 2026 with a 59-37 home loss to the Chicago Bears, then turned around and hammered Atlanta 34-3 on the road. That gave Dave Canales’s club back-to-back games with at least 30 points, something the Panthers hadn’t done in the same season since 2019. Cleveland is coming in with a similar bounce in its step after getting blown out 34-10 at Jacksonville and then rallying past Tampa Bay, 23-19, on the road.
The Panthers will be trying to stack another road win, but they’ll have to do it without linebacker Devin Lloyd and safety Nick Scott.
These teams don’t have much history to lean on. They’ve met only seven times, with Carolina holding a 4-3 edge.
Their first meeting came in 1999, when the Browns were back in the league as an expansion team. Carolina’s last trip to Cleveland ended in a 26-20 loss in 2018, and the most recent meeting came in Charlotte four years ago, when Cleveland opened the 2022 season with a 26-24 win.
One area that could shape this one is the ground game. Carolina’s run defense was ripped for 291 yards in the loss to Chicago, and even in the blowout win at Atlanta, Ejiro Evero’s defense still gave up 157 rushing yards. Cleveland hasn’t exactly been lighting up the stat sheet on the ground, though, with just 131 rushing yards across its first two games.
The Browns have also started slowly on offense. Todd Monken’s team has been outscored 33-6 in the first half over its first two games, and it has been outgained 360-154 overall while failing to score a first-half touchdown.
Carolina got a big boost last week from Darren Waller, who caught two touchdown passes against Atlanta. Tight end hasn’t been a heavily featured spot for the Panthers in recent years, but Waller changed that in a hurry. In 11 games with the Dolphins and Panthers dating back to 2025, he has 29 catches for 344 yards and eight touchdowns.
Cleveland, meanwhile, got a strong outing from Deshaun Watson in its comeback win at Tampa Bay. He completed 24 of 30 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns without turning the ball over. The question now is whether he can back that up against a Carolina defense that already has six takeaways through two games.
In Other News...
Panthers Leave Week 3 With One Problem They Can't Ignore
The Panthers Week 3 loss in Cleveland was the kind of game that leaves a lingering concern beyond the final score. Bryce Young spent much of the afternoon under duress, taking three sacks as Carolinas offense never quite found its footing against a Browns front that made protection a constant issue. Add in the injuries that hit key pieces like wide receiver Jalen Coker and cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson, and the margin for error got even thinner.
Carolinas defense had chances to keep the game within reach, but Deshaun Watsons late touchdown pass while scrambling was the sort of play that can swing a close contest and underline what was missing for the Panthers. The bigger issue, though, is hard to miss after a 21-18 loss: if the line cant give Young cleaner pockets and the injury list keeps growing, the offense will have a hard time sustaining anything week to week. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Canales Weighed In On The Call Panthers Fans Are Fuming Over
The Panthers left Week 3 with a bitter feeling, and the sequence that sparked it came late in a loss to the Browns. A roughing-the-passer penalty on linebacker Bobby Okereke wiped out an interception by cornerback Akayleb Evans, turning what looked like a momentum-changing stop into a fresh Browns drive that eventually ended in the game-winning touchdown.
Dave Canales addressed the call afterward and pointed to the hit on Deshaun Watsons head as the reason the flag was thrown, even as Panthers fans bristled at how costly the ruling became. Carolina still had two chances to get back even after that, but the offense came up empty on a turnover on downs and then an interception, leaving the penalty to loom even larger in a game the Panthers had every chance to steal. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Loss Exposed An Offensive Problem Fans Wont Ignore
A rough afternoon against Cleveland put Carolinas offense under the microscope, and not just because Bryce Young was forced to deal with steady pressure. The run game never gave the Panthers much relief, and the combined effect of those issues made it harder for the offense to find any rhythm, especially with injuries also thinning out key spots across the roster.
What stood out most was how little confidence the Panthers seemed to have in leaning on the ground game when the game tightened up. For a group that spent the offseason trying to upgrade its protection and stabilize the offense, the lack of push up front was hard to miss, and it leaves a familiar question hanging over how this unit is supposed to hold up when the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]