On Sunday September 15th ,2024, the 0-1 Cleveland Browns travel to Jacksonville Florida to play the Jacksonville Jaguars for week 2 of the NFL season. Jacksonville is also an 0-1 team; they lost their season opener to the Dolphins in Miami 20-17. Both the Browns and Jaguars had disappointing ends of their 2023 seasons to go along with the losing start of their 2024 season. Despite both teams disappointing start, they are an interesting matchup for week 2.

In 2023 the Cleveland Browns had the top ranked defense in the NFL. Jacksonville with quarterback Trevor Lawrence had the 22nd ranked offense in 2023. Lawrence had 4,013 yards passing in 2023. This team had a good offense that sputtered later in the season. They finished 2023 with a 9-8 record and missed the playoffs. A major question for the Cleveland Browns going into this game is can their offense improve from a disappointing start to the 2024 season.

In 2023 the Jacksonville Jaguars defense was ranked 22nd in the NFL as well. Last week’s Cleveland Browns opponent the Dallas Cowboys had the 5th ranked defense in the NFL in 2023. So, on paper the offense of the Browns should have a better game. Much criticism came down on the Browns for not playing starters in the preseason. This was because the offense looked unprepared and overwhelmed against Dallas. In fairness many starters were injured through most of training camp. The Browns prioritized health over preseason game reps. But the offense should offer no excuse for the Dallas game. And they must play better in Jacksonville.

While listening to the postgame interviews of Cleveland Browns players and coaches after the Dallas loss I noticed a theme. The theme was offering no excuses and a degree of accountability. The best thing for the Cleveland Browns to do is to put the game behind them and get back to work. Because there is a lot of work that needs to get done.