Football games are often decided by one or 2 individual matchups that never make the headlines. Coaches spend all week searching for those advantages, and the teams that exploit them usually walk away with the win. For the Browns, Sunday’s home opener may come down to what happens on the edge. One defender in particular has a chance to swing the game if he takes advantage of it.
Lance Reisland of 92.3 The Fan singled out Isaiah McGuire while previewing the matchup with the Carolina Panthers.
“Isaiah McGuire has to have his best game as a Cleveland Brown. Monroe Freeling is a good player. He’s really struggling right now. He looks like a rookie who’s a really good athlete. He has really struggled in the first two weeks with pass rush, speed to power. That’s what Isaiah McGuire does. He has to have a disruption game because you know the defensive tackles are gonna lock that up inside, where he’s gotta get it off the edge there. He’s gotta have the game of his life for the Browns to create pressure on Bryce Young,” Reisland said.
"Isaiah McGuire has to have his best game as a Cleveland Brown. He's gotta have the game of his life for the Browns to create pressure on Bryce Young. And then I think the run game…the Browns need to create that balance."
➡️ @LanceReisland and @RuiterWrongFAN preview the… pic.twitter.com/cI2y3NnBr4
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) September 25, 2026
The matchup makes sense on paper. Carolina took Freeling 19th overall out of Georgia, and the 6-foot-7, 315-pound rookie was pushed into the starting lineup at right tackle after Taylor Moton was diagnosed with a blood clot before training camp. He gave up a sack early in the opener and is still learning on the fly.
McGuire has been waiting for a moment like this. The Browns drafted him in the 4th round in 2023 out of Missouri, and he has slowly worked his way from a depth piece into a starter. He posted 2.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles in 2024, then made 8 starts last season.
This year has been quiet so far. McGuire has started both games since Myles Garrett was traded to the Rams, but he has 6 tackles and has yet to record a sack or a quarterback hit.
He is not alone. Jared Verse has also been held in check, and the pass rush could not finish the play when Baker Mayfield escaped and found a wide-open receiver for a touchdown last week in Tampa Bay.
That cannot happen against Carolina. Young and the Panthers have scored at least 34 points in both games and are averaging more than 400 yards, which means Mike Rutenberg’s defense needs to speed him up before the offense finds a rhythm.
The stakes are personal for McGuire too. He is in the final year of his rookie contract, and with Garrett gone, the Browns are still searching for someone to emerge as a consistent threat opposite Verse.
A big afternoon against a first-round pick would go a long way toward making that case. If McGuire wins his matchup on Sunday, the Browns will have a much better chance of making it 2 straight wins.
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