Trevor Lawrence carved up the Cleveland Browns’ defense for four touchdown passes as the Jacksonville Jaguars cruised to a 34-10 Week 1 victory.Deshaun Watson, who was named the Browns’ starting quarterback over Shedeur Sanders before the season, had a forgettable performance, throwing for 205 yards, one touchdown and an interception, failing to get the offense going until the team’s very last drive of the game.The Browns’ defense struggled to get off the field all game, and the offense wasn’t able to produce much of anything. The score was 24-0 at halftime, and things didn’t get better in the second half. The Browns didn’t score their first three points until the 8:31 mark of the third quarter — and even that was set up by Raheim Sanders’ 62-yard kick return.All told, it was an inauspicious debut for Browns coach Todd Monken, who could now have a decision to make at quarterback sooner than expected. Cleveland will next travel to Tampa to face the Buccaneers in Week 2, while the Jaguars head to Denver to face the Broncos in an early AFC showdown.
Watson couldn’t move the offense. Is it already time to consider a QB change?This is a tough one because the Browns never had a real reason to think Watson could still play at a high level. This expensive experiment failed long ago, but the hapless Browns doubled down again.After not playing for almost two years, Watson is unsurprisingly the same player. He’s turnover-prone, no longer scares defenses with his mobility and doesn’t look to throw the ball down the field often enough. Monken believed Watson would give the Browns a chance to have a clean overall operation, but that didn’t happen Sunday. — Zac Jackson, Browns reporterWhy did the Browns’ defense struggle so much vs. Lawrence?This was a preparation mismatch. The game flow certainly didn’t help the Browns’ cause, but Lawrence came out firing and completed 18 of 23 passes for 245 yards and those four TD passes for a QB rating of 150.6. Jaguars receivers were almost always open, and Parker Washington was able to adjust and make contested catches in big moments.Eventually, the Cleveland defense was an exhausted mess with temperatures reaching the mid-90s, but the main point is that the Browns were a mess overall. Liam Coen’s game plan was sound, and Cleveland’s defense got next to no help from its offense, accelerating the inevitable. — JacksonIs this game more an indication of how good the Jaguars are, or how bad the Browns are?There certainly are elements of both, but the Cleveland offense is hopeless. Lawrence got hot early — many of his targets were running wide-open — but the story of the day is that the Browns continue to double down on putting Watson on the field when that plan clearly has no chance to succeed.There was one good team advancing its overall program on the field Sunday, and the Browns were little more than a speed bump. The Browns did few things right and will take almost no positives into another Florida trip next week when they visit the Buccaneers. — JacksonSep 13, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
