Sunday, September 27th
Carolina Panthers @ Cleveland Browns, 1:00 PM ET
Through two weeks, Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young looks quite good, but he's also gotten to beat up on two of the worst defenses in the sport. After the Panthers gave up 59 points to the Chicago Bears in Week 1, they bounced back nicely against the Falcons in Week 2.
Young now has six touchdown passes and a 113.3 passer rating through two games, and he's thrown three touchdown passes in both weeks thus far. The fourth-year QB might finally be hitting a legitimate stride, but I do have questions about just how good he can be given the quality of opponents they have faced thus far.
And it's not like things get that much more difficult in Week 3. The Cleveland Browns get to stay home for this one, and, because the NFL is crazy, the Browns looked good against Tampa Bay and beat the Buccaneers in Week 2. Dare I say, Deshaun Watson also looked quite good.
Even with the Browns likely still being among the worst teams in the NFL right now, I am not sure the Panthers are going to have that easy of a time defeating the Browns in their house. Young owns a 5-20 record away from home, and his passer rating dips below 80 when he's not in front of Panthers fans.
I do believe the Browns eek this one out and get on a nice two-game winning streak. They have something to build on after their Week 2 upset victory, and the Browns fanbase always comes out. I'd have to imagine they're looking at this game against the Panthers and thinking that their rugged style of play and home-field advantage could be just enough to earn the win.
Prediction: Browns win 20-17
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