The Cleveland Browns have their hands full on Sunday when they take on the Detroit Lions in an effort to get back to .500 and put together consecutive wins for the first time since late 2023.
If Cleveland is going to pull off another upset, it is going to have to clean up one area in particular that one analyst named the Browns’ “biggest problem” going into Week 4.
Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon recently wrote about each team’s biggest problem heading into Week 4, and he believes Cleveland’s problem is one player in particular.
“Problem: Joe Flacco,” Gagnon wrote. “The offense continues to be a problem in general for a team that pulled off a miraculous upset victory in Week 3 primarily due to a killer defensive effort. That said, the running game finally showed signs of life against Green Bay, and the only offensive turnover was a Flacco interception.”
Flacco has turned the ball over five times so far, including once in each of Cleveland’s first three games, and it’s unlikely the Browns will be able to keep up with the Lions on the scoreboard if he continues this disturbing trend.
The Browns have had the league’s best defense by a number of different metrics so far, and that unit will need to be stout once again, given how explosive Detroit’s offense is.
Beating the Lions in a grind-it-out 13-10 style of game like the Browns handled the Green Bay Packers in Week 3 is unlikely, so there will be a lot of pressure on Flacco to produce more than 17 points for the first time this year.
Gagnon was correct in pointing out how Cleveland’s running game has been improving, and hopefully, that can keep trending in the right direction to help open up the passing game for Flacco.
It’s slightly too early to start wondering when the Browns will make a QB switch, but if the turnovers don’t stop, that conversation is coming sooner rather than later.
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