It's not exactly breaking news that the Jacksonville Jaguars, who went 14–3 last season, are expected to make light work of the Cleveland Browns in Week 1. The Jags have an uber-talented roster with standout players at every level. The Browns can still make things interesting if they make the game ugly. Better yet, hideous.
We all know pretty football when we see it — the quarterbacks dropping back 30–40 times apiece and having time to dissect the defense, moon shots to wide-open receivers, and a final score total that's in the 60s. The 2026 Cleveland Browns are not remotely suited for this style of play. Their best bet at catching teams sleeping this year is to pull them down into the mud and make it a street fight.
Against Jacksonville, this lends itself to an outside-the-box way of playing them on Sunday. If they have one offensive question mark, it's their rushing attack. Gone are Travis Etienne Jr. and his nearly 1,400 yards of offensive output in 2025, replaced by Chris Rodriguez Jr., who has 974 scrimmage yards for his entire three-year career.
Browns need to flood the field with coverage and dare the Jaguars to run
For Cleveland, it's easy to want to try to terrorize Trevor Lawrence into making a mistake that tilts the game in the Browns' favor. Realistically, though, the Browns probably don't have the offensive firepower to keep up if this game turns into a shootout. The blitz is a tempting gamble, but it also leaves a defense vulnerable to explosive plays.
Instead, the Browns need to dare the Jaguars to run, run, and run some more. By playing a so-called conservative defense and dropping six, seven, and sometimes eight men into coverage with light boxes that encourage Jacksonville to run the ball, the Browns can keep the clock running and shorten the game. If they can get this contest to the 4th quarter with a tight score, then things can suddenly get spicy.
A ground-and-pound defensive battle is the kind of game the Browns are going to need to get themselves into a lot this year to get some victories. If this game were to get out of hand early, the Jaguars' top-tier EDGE rushers, Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker, would likely be meeting up to sandwich Deshaun Watson a time or seven. By keeping it close and leaning on Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland will preserve a chance to steal this one.
Just last year, the Browns were able to pull off one of their biggest upsets of the year against the Green Bay Packers utilizing this method. The Browns encouraged the Packers' offense to run, and run they did — a whopping 31 times for a measly 81 yards. Conversely, the Browns gained 96 yards on 19 attempts. The final score of 13–10 might as well be an artistic film titled Le Football Moche (translation: ugly football.)
It's evidently easier said than done, but it's definitely possible. Besides, the Browns return much of their strong defense from 2025, with one glaring omission in Myles Garrett. After Garrett's Hollywood debut, fans might be thinking that's not necessarily a bad thing. In any case, Cleveland has a fighting chance on Sunday, even if it entails playing some unsightly football.
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