The Cleveland Browns finished the 2024 NFL regular season with a 3-14 record, ending the year with a six-game losing streak.
Cleveland’s poor showing in 2024 followed a surprising run to the postseason the previous year as that squad relied on its strong defensive efforts to make the AFC playoffs.
In 2024, the Browns returned most of their starters from the previous year, making last season’s failures even more unnerving to fans who expected Cleveland to make a postseason push.
Analyst Nathan Zegura believes that the major difference between those two squads lies in one position.
It’s the same thing that could prevent the Browns from having a successful season in 2025, Zegura said.
“I think we would all agree that what the Browns need more than anything is a quarterback,” Zegura said.
The analyst pointed to 2023 to reveal his reasoning.
Cleveland brought in veteran Joe Flacco late that year to address the quarterback position, and Flacco helped the Browns clinch a playoff spot with his 4-1 regular season record.
The lack of competent quarterback play hurt the Browns in 2024 as Deshaun Watson struggled during his seven starts.
Watson finished with a 1-6 record, and the quarterback failed to surpass 200 passing yards in a single outing during the 2024 season.
After Watson’s injury, the team turned to Jameis Winston for seven games, and the veteran quarterback went 2-5 during that stretch.
Winston had several strong outings, and the 31-year-old earned a franchise-record 497 passing yards in the team’s primetime loss to Denver last year.
The quarterback also threw 12 interceptions, and those turnovers hurt Cleveland’s chances of being competitive with Winston leading the charge.
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