The Cleveland Browns’ season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars could not have gone any worse. Not only were many of the worst fears realized, some new ones popped up along the way.
All in all, head coach Todd Monken’s NFL debut left a lot to be desired. It also won’t get any easier from here.
The morning after, analyst Ken Carman, who picked Cleveland to win the game, unloaded on the Browns after the “embarrassing” Week 1 performance, vowing to not pick them again for the rest of the season.
“Welp, won’t be [predicting the Browns to win] again. Hell no, I ain’t picking them to win the rest of the year. Are you nuts? I ain’t picking them to win a damn thing. That ain’t just about football. If they were in a two-man potato sack race, I ain’t picking them to win that, either. I didn’t guarantee a damn thing, I just picked them to win. Not only did they lose, they lost in embarrassing fashion as if they never played the game before. I’m not picking them to win a damn thing for the rest of the year. I don’t know where to begin. I don’t know where to finish. I don’t know where to go in the middle, because it was all bad,” Carman said.
"Well, won't be doing that again. Hell no, I ain't picking them to win the rest of the year. Are you nuts? I'm ain't picking them to win a damn thing. If they were in a potato sack race, I ain't picking them to win that, either."
🚨 @KenCarman to @SportsBoyTony on the #Browns… https://t.co/0xdGz6wHnr pic.twitter.com/7JOYCRdaYA
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) September 14, 2026
Of course, this being sports talk radio, Carman can change his mind again if the Browns happen to play well against Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this coming Sunday. But the way Cleveland looked in its 34-10 loss at Jacksonville, that result might be even more lopsided with Mayfield looking for revenge against his former team.
It did not take long for Deshaun Watson, who is Monken’s very unpopular choice as starting quarterback, to live up to the very low expectations fans had for him. After completing his first two passes, Watson threw an interception, which was an issue that plagued him during training camp.
The Jaguars would turn that good field position into a touchdown drive, and they would not stop scoring after that. Jacksonville scored on its first four drives, while Watson and the Cleveland offense got nothing going, and it was 24-0 at halftime, which was the Browns’ worst shutout at halftime in 35 years, according to ESPN.
The Jaguars turned the second-half kickoff into another touchdown drive, and it was 34-3 by the end of the third quarter. If Jacksonville did not show some mercy in the fourth quarter, it would have been an even bigger blowout.
A particular lowlight was that, after emphasizing the offense’s operation throughout camp and even citing it as a reason he chose Watson over Sanders in the first place, the Browns had six accepted penalties on offense, including two delay of game infractions. It inevitably drew immediate questions regarding Watson’s status as the starter for Week 2.
Based on what the Browns showed on Sunday, they have a lot of additional questions to address before then.
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