After a rough opening loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars and a much cleaner 23-19 win over the Baker Mayfield-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Browns are heading into their first home game of the season with a chance to build real momentum. Carolina comes to Cleveland next, and if the Browns want to make it two straight, a handful of players need to keep trending up.
One of the biggest names under the microscope is the 25-year-old defensive end Verse, who arrived in Cleveland this offseason after future Hall of Famer Myles Garrett was sent to Los Angeles. The expectations were obvious from the start, but through two weeks, Verse hasn’t quite delivered the kind of impact the Browns were counting on.
He’s played 46 pass-rush snaps and generated only two pressures, which comes out to a 4.3% pressure percentage, and he still hasn’t gotten to the quarterback for a sack. Verse knows the early stretch has been part of the adjustment.
After the loss to Jacksonville, he told the media he is using the early-season struggles as a "learning tool." Against Carolina, the Browns will be looking for that first sack in orange and brown.
Deshaun Watson is another player who has to back up the win over Tampa Bay with another strong outing. He was sharp against the Buccaneers, throwing for nearly 250 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions while consistently making the plays the Browns needed.
The bigger question now is whether that performance was a one-off or a sign that the old Watson is starting to show up again. That challenge gets a little more manageable on paper against a Panthers defense that gave up well over 400 yards to the Chicago Bears.
Still, Watson has to prove he can stack good games together, especially at home, where the scrutiny is always heavier. It has been well documented that the 31-year-old signal caller doesn't have the greatest relationship with the fanbase.
Rookie Boston has already made a strong first impression. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound receiver has found the end zone in consecutive weeks on deep throws from Watson, and he’s up to 154 total yards on seven catches with two touchdowns.
His 22 yards per reception jump off the page, and he’ll get another chance to show that his early production is no accident. Carolina’s pass defense has been uneven, but it did hold the Atlanta Falcons to 144 yards and force three interceptions last week, so this isn’t a group that will roll over quietly.
At home in the regular season for the first time in his career, Boston will want to keep the momentum rolling.
Fannin Jr. also needs to be part of the answer. He was quiet in Jacksonville, finishing with just two catches for 21 yards, but he bounced back against Tampa Bay with a much more useful line: six targets, five catches and 54 yards.
Watson leaned on him when the Browns needed first downs, and that kind of reliability could matter again if Carolina tries to squeeze the field and take away Boston and KC Concepcion outside the hashes. Fannin Jr. will need to keep finding space and give Watson another trusted option in the middle of the offense.
In Other News...
Browns Home Opener Suddenly Looks Like A Bigger Test Than Expected
The Browns home opener is coming into focus with Carolina looking far less like a soft landing than it did a week ago. The Panthers picked up their first win of the season by beating the Falcons, and Bryce Youngs play has started to trend in the right direction after an uneven start. Add in the way linebacker Devin Lloyd has helped stabilize Carolinas defense, and the matchup carries a little more substance than the usual early-season check-in.
Cleveland still gets the advantage of playing at home, but this is the kind of game that can tell you a bit more about both teams than the record might suggest. Carolinas season-long question is still consistency on defense, and that remains the area the Browns will be watching closely. If the Panthers can keep building on what worked against Atlanta, the opener could end up feeling more like a test than a tune-up. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Suddenly Have A Linebacker Problem They Can't Easily Solve
Quincy Williams has already become one of the Browns more interesting early-season subplots, and not for ideal reasons. Through two games, the linebacker has had a rough time in coverage and has also had trouble finishing plays, which has forced Cleveland to live with some uneven snaps at a position where the margin for error is usually pretty small. There was some improvement in Week 2 after a shaky opener, but the overall picture has still been far from settled.
What makes this matter more pressing for Cleveland is the lack of easy alternatives if Williams keeps stumbling. The Browns do not have a deep safety net waiting behind him, which means they may have to keep trusting him while hoping the execution sharpens quickly. The challenge only gets more immediate with Carolina next on the schedule, giving Williams another chance to show he can hold up when the offense starts testing him in space. [Read more 🡒]
Andre Szmyt Is Giving Browns Fans A Rare Reason To Brag
Andre Szmyt has given Browns fans something they do not often get to enjoy this time of year: confidence in the kicker. Through the early part of the 2026 season, he has been perfect on his attempts, and that consistency has already earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors twice. Since Week 1 last season, he has gone 27 of 29 on field goals, with a clean mark from 40 yards and in.
For a team that has spent plenty of time searching for stability in the kicking game, Szmyts start has stood out as more than a hot streak. Browns special teams coordinator Byron Storer has praised his hard work and dedication, the kind of behind-the-scenes detail that usually only gets noticed when the results show up on Sundays. Right now, the results have been hard to miss, and the bigger question is how long this run can keep going. [Read more 🡒]