3 things Cleveland Browns need to avoid in Week 1
By John Suchan
Week 1 is here, and the Cleveland Browns take on the Carolina Panthers. For the Browns to get the win they’ll need to avoid these three things
On Sunday the Cleveland Browns will battle the Carolina Panthers in their first game of the 2022 season. All the waiting and speculation are over. The game will be played and one team will win and one team will lose.
Sometimes for fans, it’s easy for us to do a little coaching in our comfortable living room or man caves. We won’t be on the sideline Sunday but there are some key aspects of the game that are important that I’m sure the Browns coaching staff is aware of as well.
Let’s tackle a few of those issues that need to be avoided at all costs for the Browns to come out the winner.
3 things Browns need to avoid on Sunday
No. 3: Allowing Baker Mayfield to get off to a good start
Back in 2018, Baker Mayfield entered the Week 3 game against the New York Jets and electrified the Browns fanbase as he started throwing darts with pinpoint accuracy. From that point forward, fans were hooked on Mayfield’s capabilities as a quarterback. But injuries and the ups and downs of his career have now left him with a new team in the Panthers.
His new fans are more than excited to see what he can do in this first game of the season against his former team. Some Browns fans might be a little nervous in thinking about what Mayfield might do on Sunday. If he gets off to that fast start and gets his team in a lead early that can only add to Carolina’s momentum.
Cleveland can also take advantage of that hype that Mayfield brings into a game. Can they get Mayfield to make a few of those typical mistakes when he gets overconfident? Cleveland defenders had a lot of practice time learning his tendencies, so look for a very confident unit on Sunday ready to make some noise, especially in the Panthers backfield.
He hasn’t had much success over his career when his team is losing to mount comebacks. If Cleveland can slow down the train at the beginning of the game, then they will be in good shape for the win.