Forgive me, where are my manners?<\/p>\n
Welcome to the first Winners and Losers column of the 2025 Browns<\/a> season.<\/p>\n The Browns had a rocky start to the year in a 17-16 defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>. But that\u2019s just what the scoreboard says.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s dive through this Journey and find the real winners and losers from the game:<\/p>\n Loser: Sure-handedness<\/p>\n Quarterback Joe Flacco displayed why fans were happy to have him back under center. <\/p>\n He showed his familiarity in this offense, completing 68.9% of his passes for 290 yards and one touchdown, though it came with two interceptions.<\/p>\n His two picks blurred his overall performance, although neither was on him.<\/p>\n Flacco\u2019s first interception was headed for Jerry Jeudy. <\/p>\n The pass was a little low, but Jeudy made contact and had it in his hands. But he couldn\u2019t retain possession, and had it bounce into the hands of Cincinnati\u2019s Jordan Battle.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it touch my hands, I got to make that play,\u201d Jeudy said after the game.<\/p>\n That pick set up Evan McPherson\u2019s 35-yard field goal to give Cincinnati a 17-16 lead.<\/p>\n In the fourth quarter, Flacco found Cedric Tillman off a hook route, and the ball deflected off his hands. Cincinnati\u2019s DJ Turner II lunged for the ball and grabbed it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll get it next time,\u201d Tillman said \u201cObviously, disappointed as a team, but we\u2019ll learn from it and move on. But for sure we\u2019ll connect and I\u2019ll make the play next time.\u201d<\/p>\n The end of Cleveland\u2019s opening series in the last quarter was bad, and ended in a turnover on downs. The series featured back-to-back dropped passes: one by tight end Harold Fannin Jr., who had an impressive debut, then one by a wide open Jerry Jeudy.<\/p>\n You have to make those catches — not only to continue the series, but to end another bad Browns trend.<\/p>\n In 2024<\/a>, the Browns led the NFL in dropped passes (48). The year prior<\/a>, they finished second (42).<\/p>\n Consistent catching has to enter the chat at some point, right? <\/p>\n Winner: The Browns defense<\/p>\n The loss was not on Cleveland\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n It made one of the NFL\u2019s most heralded offenses look discombobulated on Sunday.<\/p>\n Especially in the second half, when holding the Bengals to 7 second-half net yards<\/a>.<\/p>\n BETTING: Browns moneyline<\/a> is listed at +500 on FanDuel<\/a> for Sunday\u2019s game against the Ravens. Our complete FanDuel Sportsbook review<\/a> will show you how to register and use their platform.<\/p>\n Joe Burrow led the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns in 2024.<\/p>\n On Sunday he threw for only 113 yards, and was sacked more times (three, all of which came during the first series of the fourth quarter) than he had touchdown passes (one).<\/p>\n In 2024, Ja\u2019Marr Chase accomplished the rare Triple Crown, leading the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. Cleveland\u2019s defensive backs showed out and limited him and Tee Higgins to a combined five catches on nine targets for 59 yards.<\/p>\n There was a different tone on Sunday. the Browns\u2019 defensive performance leaned more as a statement that they\u2019ve still got it.<\/p>\n The remnants of what made them the best defense two seasons ago were visible on Sunday. <\/p>\n Browns <\/p>\n Greg Newsome II recorded a blatant pass interference while covering Chase. That resulted in a 15-yard penalty, moving Cincinnati 3 yards away from the end zone. Three plays later, the Bengals scored and took a 14-7 lead.<\/p>\n Dawand Jones accounted for four penalties, all coming in the second half, three of which were holding.<\/p>\n Bengals<\/p>\n Four of the team\u2019s seven penalties came during the defense\u2019s first series. Three resulted in a first down for Cleveland.<\/p>\n A defensive PI on Cam Taylor-Britt turned a third-and-3 into a first-and-10. <\/p>\n DJ Turner II did the same on his own defensive PI four plays later. And none other than the reigning sack leader in Trey Hendrickson was called for roughing the passer, and that positioned Cleveland on the 4-yard line.<\/p>\n The Browns offense was moving, but those penalties helped them move closer to scoring on their opening drive.<\/p>\n Sampson was in a weird spot going into training camp.<\/p>\n Jerome Ford was still the Browns\u2019 RB1, at least on paper, but things looked set up for 36th pick Quinshon Judkins to take over at some point. Judkins\u2019 off-the-field issues opened a window of opportunity for Sampson, and he ran with it to the point where he started the season opener.<\/p>\n And did he contribute.<\/p>\n \u201cMy old coach used to say, \u2018The ball finds energy.\u2019 So that\u2019s all I try to do when I get the ball in my hands, to maximize every single play,\u201d Sampson said. <\/p>\n He had 93 total yards from scrimmage, including 64 off catching all eight targets.<\/p>\n Thirty-seven of those yards from scrimmage came during Cleveland\u2019s second touchdown drive, single-handedly carrying that series.<\/p>\n You make the most of your opportunity, and the rookie out of Tennessee did exactly that.<\/p>\n Anybody trying to argue Cleveland shouldn\u2019t have cut Dustin Hopkins and that he would\u2019ve made the kick, don\u2019t.<\/p>\n Kickers have one job: Drain it.<\/p>\n Hopkins wasn\u2019t doing much of that, and Browns management ended his tenure and promoted Andre Szmyt.<\/p>\n NFL offenses depend on their kickers to take them out of tight situations, and in a cut-throat league, draining kicks makes life easier.<\/p>\n Szmyt made an extra point and a 45-yarder in the first half.<\/p>\n But his misses on an extra point and a 36-yard field goal left four points off the board for the Browns.<\/p>\n A field goal that was shorter than his previous make would\u2019ve made him the hero.<\/p>\n Next time, young man.<\/p>\n Football Insider newsletter free trial: Take a minute and sign up for a free trial<\/a> of our Football Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive content from cleveland.com’s Browns reporters.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 \u201cSome\u2019ll win, some will lose. Some are born to sing the blues.\u201d It\u2019s your call…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,62910,2296,58555,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-356412","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-bengals","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","11":"tag-cincinnati-bengals-2025","12":"tag-cincinnatibengals","13":"tag-cleveland-browns-2025","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115179120861436807","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Cleveland](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/YOWUME44QVCGNEZLDIIITASGEQ.JPG\")
Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco throws a pass while he is protected by Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas blocking Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Myles Murphy in the second half. John Kuntz, cleveland.com<\/p>\n![\"Cleveland](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BZ34E6NQAZEJDMUE5P42CJ5PYU.JPG\")
Cleveland Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II is called for an pass interference penalty covering Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase in the first half. John Kuntz, cleveland.comLoser: Discipline<\/p>\n![\"Cleveland](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/YYIN5XAZKVEM7FS5LGSW33BAHI.JPG\")
Cleveland Browns running back Dylan Sampson runs the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half of play. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.comWinner: Dylan Sampson<\/p>\n![\"Cleveland](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/QS5R55ATHNGY5BGK66JD5FUZCQ.JPG\")
Cleveland Browns place kicker Andre Szmyt reacts after missing a field goal that would put the Browns ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals in the second half of play. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.comLoser: Andre Szmyt<\/p>\n