The Cleveland Browns may have lost their Week 1 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals 17-16, but there was a lot to be excited about on both sides of the ball that should give fans hope heading into a daunting Week 2 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.
One impressive aspect of the Week 1 performance came from the defense, which held Joe Burrow and the Bengals to just 17 points, including just seven yards of offense in the second half.
That performance has members of the defense feeling great — so great, in fact, that Grant Delpit decided to poke the bear when asked about how difficult it is to tackle Ravens running back Derrick Henry, according to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.
“Not hard,” Delpit said, via Mary Kay Cabot.
How hard is #Ravens Derrick Henry to bring down? #Browns Grant Delpit: “Not hard.”
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) September 11, 2025
In two games against the Browns last season, Henry ran for 211 yards and three touchdowns on 6.8 yards per carry, so there isn’t a lot of evidence in Cleveland that Delpit’s claim is true.
In Delpit’s defense, Cleveland had one of the best defenses in the NFL in 2023, and that unit held Henry to one of the worst games of his career during his final season with the Tennessee Titans, limiting him to just 20 yards on 11 carries.
The ageless running back ripped the Buffalo Bills for 169 yards and a pair of TDs during the season opener, but it’s clear the Browns are heading into this matchup with their heads held high.
Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy also said Baltimore’s secondary doesn’t present any problems for them, so this is a team-wide bear-poking heading into a tough matchup.
It will be fun to see if the Browns can make good on these perceived slights on Sunday.
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