Week 1 usually sells hope. For the Browns and Dolphins, it produced something else entirely: tanking talk.
Cleveland got hit first. While the Browns were still in the middle of their opener against Jacksonville, Jeff D.
Lowe made the blunt case that Deshaun Watson was the wrong quarterback if the mission was anything other than winning. “If the goal is to lose all of their games, then you gotta keep trotting Deshaun Watson out there.”
If the goal is to lose all of their games, then you gotta keep trotting Deshaun Watson out there. #Browns https://t.co/pBAeFYxZ9o pic.twitter.com/JLPdjXFVAH He had already said playing Watson was the fastest way to the worst record in football.
By the time the Jaguars finished the job, the score was 34-10. Trevor Lawrence threw four touchdowns, while Watson finished 16-of-22 for 205 yards, one score, one interception and five sacks. Cleveland’s opening drive also ended with an interception, which only sharpened the criticism around the start the Browns delivered.
The Browns’ situation was made even more pointed by the quarterback decision. Todd Monken named Watson the starter over Shedeur Sanders, and the first half in Jacksonville was a 24-0 rout. Cleveland still has Shedeur on the roster, which is part of why Lowe’s comments spread so quickly.
Miami drew the same kind of suspicion before it even kicked off in Las Vegas. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk raised the question of whether the Dolphins were headed down that road again.
“Seven years ago, the Dolphins were seemingly trying to lose,” he wrote. “As the 2026 season begins, some in league circles are wondering whether the Dolphins are tanking all over again.”
That history is what gave the line extra weight.
The Dolphins have already lived through this conversation. Stephen Ross was accused of paying Brian Flores to lose games during the 2019 chase for Joe Burrow.
The league later said Miami did not tank, but the idea never really went away. With a new coach and a roster that looks thin, Florio saw enough on opening weekend to bring the label back.
For Miami, the issue is the look of the thing. A Week 1 trip to Las Vegas already had the feel of a rebuild starting in plain view. For Cleveland, the math is simpler: if Watson keeps taking snaps after a 34-10 loss, people are going to connect the dots.
Tank talk normally waits until later in the season. This time, two teams got it before dinner.
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For a team that has already lived through accusations of intentional losing back in 2019, the optics matter almost as much as the record. The Dolphins are trying to sell a different story now, one built on rebuilding and a new culture rather than short-term sacrifice, but any season that starts with cap stress and quarterback uncertainty is going to invite the same old questions until the on-field results quiet them. [Read more 🡒]