The Cleveland Browns lost in Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals, as they were expected to. But the way they lost was very unexpected. The defense had one of its best performances ever. They held the high-powered Bengals to just 141 total yards on the day. The Browns also possessed the ball for just under 36 minutes, but even then, Joe Flacco and the offense couldn’t get the job done.
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The veteran signal caller certainly gave it a go, throwing a whopping 45 passes (and completing 31) for 290 yards and a touchdown. However, he was also sacked twice and threw two interceptions, continuing his trend in recent years of throwing about an interception per game.
After that shaky performance, Shannon Sharpe came on his Night Cap podcast and lambasted the Browns for continuing on with this Flacco charade at quarterback. Sharpe says that the team needs to stop “foolin'” with the 41-year-old and make a real decision about their future at quarterback sooner rather than later.
“And this is why you need to find your quarterback. I don’t know why ya’ll foolin’ with Joe Flacco,” Sharpe said.
“Ya’ll know Joe Flacco’s not taking ya’ll anywhere. He’s not your quarterback of your future. If I’m gonna lose, I’m gonna lose trying to find out who my quarterback is. That’s just me. I don’t care if it’s Gabriel, I don’t care if it’s Shedeur, I don’t care who it is. I just know, Joe Flacco ain’t your quarterback,” he added.
It was just the 13th time in the last 55 years that a team has gained 300+ yards and allowed under 150, and still lost the game. And it wasn’t all Flacco’s fault, in the end.
The Browns trotted out a rookie kicker in Week 1, Andre Szmyt, and it was a rough, rough debut. Not only did he miss a gimme 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter that would’ve given his team a lead, he also missed the PAT after Cleveland’s second touchdown, which would’ve given them 17 points in what eventually ended as a 17-16 loss.
There was more blame to go around as well. While Flacco missed some throws and made some bad decisions, there were also a few times where he hit his man in the hands, and the receiver simply dropped it.
Those mental mistakes need to be cleaned up, because as Sharpe pointed out, this was a very winnable game for Cleveland. This is the type of divisional win that can really boost a team’s confidence and change its season trajectory.
Unfortunately, Cleveland came up short, and they did so with a middle-aged man at QB. As Sharpe said, if you’re going to lose anyway, you might as well learn something about your rookie QBs while you’re doing so.
