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CLEVELAND, Ohio — The waiting is over.
After an extra-long preseason (July 22 really feels like it was another lifetime ago) there’s only about 24 hours to go until we get our first glimpse of the 2023 Cleveland Browns in an actual game setting. No more guessing about what personnel and scheme changes will actually alter and what exactly the Browns will do — We will finally get to watch, analyze, overanalyze, change our minds and double back, for better and worse.
And it’s a tough one right out of the gate, as Cleveland will host the Cincinnati Bengals at 1 p.m. tomorrow in an AFC North showdown.
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Here are a few storylines to know ahead of the division rivalry matchup, as well as a prediction on how I think each will go:
The Elves of it all
This week had been quiet. Too quiet.
The Browns have seemed determined not to give the Bengals any bulletin board material, and that’s probably a smart idea. But down in Cincy? Ja’Marr Chase missed the memo.
“It feels like a regular game to me,” Chase told Bengals reporters at his locker on Thursday. “It don’t feel no different. It’s just the hooping and hollering about the Cleveland Browns. I was about to call them the elves. But, yeah.”
Browns players of course had something to say about that on Friday.
“See now that was disrespectful,” Garrett said Friday. “He didn’t have to go there. The elves was probably … he knew better. We might have to have a discussion before or after the game, maybe during if I see him. But yeah the elves is a little bit too far.”
How I think it will turn out: Even if the Browns weren’t over-the-top mad about those comments on Friday (Garrett’s response had a joking tone), I think this is going to be used over the next 24-plus hours ahead of kickoff. Greg Newsome II openly talked about “keeping receipts” on everything and this is just the latest thing he can add to the file. Chase poked a bear, and I think the Cleveland defense does more than poke back.
The defense’s identity
It’s finally time for Cleveland to unveil its new Jim Schwartz scheme on defense.
We know the basics. The pass rush is emphasized. But for the most part we’ve really only gotten a vanilla look at what this system is. The defensive coordinator said on Thursday that he has an idea of who this team is — but identity, that comes much later and with time.
“Good teams find out who they are over the course of the season and what they do is they tend to funnel into a personality as a season (goes on),” Schwartz said. “What that personality is going to be right now, I don’t know. I have an idea, but I don’t know for sure. My job as a play caller, my job as coordinator is to very quickly find out what our guys are good at and to try to put them in those positions. And that’s where I think teams improve over the course of the season. They find their personality, they find what they’re good at.
“Maybe it’s not what I’m expecting.”
How I think it will turn out: I’m expecting this defense to come out and play fast, aggressive and with its hair on fire. I think they are the driving force behind a two-touchdown victory for Cleveland, and that they will still exploit the Bengals offensive line. Sure, Cincy has added Orlando Brown, but Cleveland should still be able to get the looks it wants opposite of Jonah Williams. Lining up against Za’Darius Smith isn’t much of a consolation prize to facing Myles Garrett.
If won’t be the full picture of who the Browns defense will be this season, but at the very least, I’m expecting a positive first impression.
The quarterbacks
This is the topic of the week.
Joe Burrow is playing after battling a calf strain for most of the preseason.
Browns fans finally get to see Cleveland unveil the Deshaun Watson project and get a look at the revamped offense. His reviews might not have been rave in camp, but a big reason for that, the Browns think, was purposely experimenting and making things difficult for the offense.
In a division rivalry game, the stakes are even higher.
How I think it will turn out: Of the two, I think Burrow is more likely to look rusty, just because of all the practice time he missed throughout camp. He does have the benefit of being very familiar with his main pass-catchers in Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. My guess is, Burrow looks OK, but this is more of a get-back-into-a-rhythm game for him than anything.
With Watson there’s more unknown. But I’m guessing he looks to his favorite targets early, especially on the scripted drives: Amari Cooper, David Njoku and Elijah Moore. I think being at home will help, but still don’t expect to see him at his best. So much in this offense is new and they didn’t get to run all of those wrinkles in preseason games. There will still be some ironing out to do, but overall it should be a good — if not muted — individual performance by the quarterback.
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