The game was sitting there for the taking. Quarterback Joe Flacco marched the Browns into scoring range. Myles Garrett and the defense had just rattled off three straight sacks, and the Bengals ' offense couldn't produce. Instead, a missed kick, dropped passes, and a tipped interception sent Browns fans home groaning — another season opener slipped away.
The Browns fell 17–16 to the Bengals on Sunday, dropping their record in season openers to a staggering 3-23-1 since the team returned in 1999. Flacco's late interception and kicker Andre Szmyt 's missed 36-yard field goal in the final minutes sealed the defeat, despite a dominant showing from Garrett and a defense that held Joe Burrow to just 113 yards passing.
It was a game that summed up both the promise and the peril of this Browns team. Flacco delivered poise , the defense delivered grit, but the offense and special teams squandered opportunity after opportunity. The formula of long, grinding drives and heavy personnel looked effective until execution errors flipped the outcome.
At 40, Flacco showed there's still life in his arm. He finished 31 of 45 for 290 yards, spreading the ball to eight different targets. He kept the offense moving on third downs with timely throws to Njoku and Jeudy, and his play-action game gave Cleveland rhythm.
But the box score tells a crueler story. Both of Flacco's interceptions came off drops. First, Jeudy bobbling a ball that turned into a pick by Jordan Battle , then Tillman letting a short throw slip through his hands with 1:24 left, ricocheting to D.J. Turner. Neither was Flacco's fault, yet both were crushing.
What could have been a veteran's gritty comeback turned into an old quarterback playing well enough to win, only to be undone by the players around him.
Raheim "Rocket" Sanders capped a 16-play, nearly 10-minute drive by bulldozing into the end zone on fourth down for the Browns' opening touchdown, answering Cincinnati 's initial score. It was exactly how head coach Kevin Stefanski wanted to play by limiting Burrow's chances and wearing down the Bengals' defense.
That identity showed up again before halftime, when Cleveland milked the final 4:18 on an 11-play field goal drive, and early in the third quarter, when Flacco orchestrated an 84-yard march capped by a five-yard strike to Cedric Tillman . But Szmyt's missed extra point left the score at 16–14, a crack that widened into a collapse.
The Browns had the game in their grasp, but this style leaves no room for error. And on Sunday, errors stacked higher than the positives.
The Browns thought moving on from kicker Dustin Hopkins would bring stability to the kicking game. Instead, they got disaster. Rookie Andre Szmyt drilled a 45-yarder late in the first half but missed wide right on both a critical extra point and the would-be game-winner from 36 yards.
The miss with 2:22 left sucked the life out of the building. After years of kicking heartbreak, Cleveland fans knew the feeling all too well. And for a franchise that has lost more close games than it can count, it was a brutal reminder that in the NFL, one shaky leg can undo everything else.
If there was any reason to believe this team can rebound, it's Garrett. With the Bengals pinned near their own end zone in the fourth quarter, Garrett sacked Burrow twice in three plays, each time detonating the pocket. Rookie Isaiah McGuire added a third straight sack to complete the series and give the Browns a chance to steal the win.
The defense did its job for most of the day. Burrow was held without an explosive play, Ja'Marr Chase managed just 26 yards, and Cincinnati converted only one third down in the second half. In every way that mattered, the defense gave the Browns a winning chance.
Cleveland's plan is to control the clock, lean on heavy personnel, and count on Garrett and the defense to close games. But the margin for error is razor thin.
Help may be on the way. Rookie running back Quinshon Judkins is set to return soon and could inject much-needed juice into a ground game that finished 29th a year ago. His presence should balance out an offense still learning its limits.
But the Browns cannot afford mistakes. Not with this style, not in this division, not if they want to be relevant come December. For one afternoon, Cleveland saw the formula almost work. Instead, the same problems that have plagued the franchise for decades resurfaced in cruel fashion. A missed kick here, a dropped pass there, and a golden opportunity vanished.
Another opening day, another bitter ending.
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