Cleveland enters its first home game of the season as a home underdog against a Carolina team riding real momentum of its own, yet one national voice believes the Browns shouldn’t be counted out. CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco broke down exactly why he sees an upset brewing at Huntington Bank Field.
Prisco explained his reasoning for predicting a final score of Browns 23, Panthers 20.
“The Panthers are out on the road for the second straight week after blowing out the Falcons, while the Browns are playing their first home game. Bryce Young is rolling for the Panthers, but I think the Browns defense will play well again here as they did in Tampa last week. The Browns take it in an upset,” Prisco wrote.
The Panthers arrive in Cleveland with plenty of confidence after their own blowout win over Atlanta, and Bryce Young’s improved play has turned Carolina into a legitimate threat rather than the shaky offense that opened the season with turnover issues against Chicago.
That trust in the Browns’ defense lines up with what happened in Tampa. Cleveland forced a turnover through Myles Harden’s interception, generated real pressure after managing almost nothing in Week 1, and closed out a four-point win despite a weather delay late in the fourth quarter.
The home crowd angle cuts both ways, and it is still fair to expect Deshaun Watson to hear some boos when he takes the field, given everything that led up to this season. One strong road win does not erase years of frustration in a single week, and plenty of fans will need more than that before fully buying back in.
Where things could shift is if he struggles again, since a poor showing in front of this crowd risks reigniting the same hostile environment that was being discussed as a real possibility just days ago.
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