After week two, I think it is now safe to say that the only reason the Browns’ offense looked decent in week one was because they were playing the Cincinnati Bengals. This week, going up against an actual defense in Baltimore, Cleveland’s offense looked gross, resulting in a 41-17 loss.

Each half of Sunday’s game was disastrous in a different way. The first half began with six straight punts. You read that right. The Browns’ first SIX possessions ended in punts, with one of them being blocked, setting Baltimore up with great field position. These early drives for Cleveland were sprinkled with some nice plays, such as a leaping third-down catch by Jerry Jeudy (who proceeded to immediately drop his next third-down opportunity; please can we get past the drops issue), but overall the offense was looking putrid.

The second half was where the Browns scored both of their touchdowns, but it was also where the Browns had three costly turnovers (a pick, a fumble that resulted in a Ravens TD, and a turnover-on-downs).

To me, this game was really the offense’s fault. Let’s focus on that first, then we’ll talk about what the defense did right.

The Offense

First off, it may be possible that Flacco’s magic has run out. I read a comment online that said it is time for Flacco to pull out his AARP card. He looked slow out there, and some of his throws were just plain not good. He had an awful interception where he was running out of bounds and threw back across his body. It’s textbook what NOT to do as an NFL quarterback, and it was a throw that you’d normally expect from a rookie.

Even Flacco’s TD pass to Tillman should’ve been an interception. In a miraculous turn of events, the ball went in and out of Ravens DB Marlon Humphrey’s hands, and into the waiting arms of Tillman for a score.

A tip drill leads to a Cedric Tillman TD to cut Baltimore’s lead over Cleveland to 20-10 pic.twitter.com/VZLWshFjgE

— Rafters (@RaftersHQ) September 14, 2025

Overall, while Stefanski said the job is still Flacco’s, unless he looks sharper and faster in week three, it might be worth giving a rookie a shot. I think I may have been a little too excited about Flacco last week; I didn’t give enough weight to the fact that he was throwing against the Bengals’ poor defense. We saw today what he looks like against a capable one.

The only redeeming parts of the offense were, like last week, the rookies. Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. played a great game. He ended with five catches for 48 yards and had one pretty exceptional leaping snag late in the game. He’ll be a player to watch going forward. Rookie RB Quinshon Judkins out of Ohio State also impressed in his debut appearance. He was the lead back for Cleveland, racking up 61 yards on 10 carries. Him and Dylan Sampson should be a fun duo to watch going forward, assuming that the passing game can get up to speed.

The Defense

On the defensive end, the Browns honestly looked good, which is not something you’d expect from a team who gave up 41 points. But when you take into account the offense, it starts to make more sense. One of the Ravens’ TDs was a fumble return, and the other was after an interception that was returned inside the Browns 10. In fact, Cleveland’s D almost stopped them on that drive despite the Ravens’ field position! The Browns offense also failed a fourth down attempt, giving the Ravens another great starting field position.

All in all, Cleveland’s D basically allowed only 20 points on the day if you take out the offense’s poor play. Myles Garrett was in on multiple sacks and the secondary’s coverage was not bad.

Myles Garrett & Cam Thomas with the SACK. #Browns pic.twitter.com/3sv8sWMWRH

— Browns fan UK (@brownsfanuk) September 14, 2025

Grant Delpit swatted away a would-be touchdown to Mark Andrews, and made another nice tackle on a third down to force a punt. Even on some of Baltimore’s big plays, the coverage was tight. Lamar simply made some MVP throws, which is always going to happen when you’re playing against a generational QB talent.

Even more impressive was the Browns’ ability to contain Derrick Henry. One week after absolutely obliterating the Bills’ defense, Henry only mustered 23 yards on Cleveland’s defense. The Browns also punched out the ball on one of his carries, forcing a fumble that was unfortunately recovered by Baltimore’s offense.

The overarching point is that the Browns’ defense is still high-caliber. It is still one of the top units in the league. Remember, they just held a fully healthy Bengals offense to 17 points last week. This week, the offense blundered so many times that the defense just couldn’t keep up. But that won’t happen every week.

Give the offense some time to work things out. Maybe a QB change is necessary at some point, or maybe Flacco just had a terrible performance against his old team. Either way, they have 15 more games to figure it out, starting with next week against the Green Bay Packers (which should be a defensive brawl).

With the way the Browns’ defense played, all hope is not lost for the season.