After a 10-day break, we are at it again today, Packers fans, as the green and gold have their first Noon CST kickoff of the season when they take on the Cleveland Browns from Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, OH. The Packers are off to a great start this season, sitting at 2-0 and serving up Super Bowl aspirations after defeating the Washington Commanders 27-18 in a game that looked close on paper, but honestly wasn't. Cleveland, however, is the complete opposite, coming off a 41-17 shellacking at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, which caused their record to fall to 0-2. Green Bay will need to be careful not to overlook a Cleveland team that will be hoping not to fall too far behind early in the season. 

The last time these two teams met was a Christmas Day showdown in 2021 at Lambeau Field that saw the Packers walk away with a 24-22 victory. Baker Mayfield was at the helm of the Browns' franchise, and he completed 21 passes for 222 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions. Two of those INTs went to Rasul Douglas. At the helm of the Packers was none other than Aaron Rodgers, who completed 24 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns. I think the Packers will want to take those INTs today, and if Jordan Love finishes with a stat line matching Rodgers' performance, that should be a pretty successful outing. 

Last Thursday, the Packers showed the league for the second straight game that they are a force to be reckoned with. Washington was considered a conference favorite heading into Thursday night, and the Packers may have done some damage to that idea afterwards. Jordan Love threw for 19 completions, 292 yards, and two touchdowns. Tucker Kraft walked away with 124 of those receiving yards and a touchdown. In the running game, the stat line doesn't look bad for Josh Jacobs with 84 yards on the ground and a touchdown, but then it's understood that he carried the ball 23 times, which takes the average down a bit to 3.65 per carry. Jacobs can do better. On defense, the team contained Jayden Daniels and came up with four sacks. They may be looking to set a record with today's game. 

The Browns may seem easy on paper, but they have a great defense that can be disruptive to the Packers getting anything going early. The key today will be to keep Jordan Love clean. 

What to see on Offense

Packer fans should be more than familiar with Cleveland's premier pass-rusher, Myles Garrett. Why? Because while Garrett was pushing for a new contract from Cleveland, Packer fans would not stop going on about the Packers needing to trade for Garrett. Well, Garrett didn't go anywhere; he re-signed with Cleveland to stay home. Obviously, the Packers weren't left empty-handed, as we all know that they traded for Micah Parsons. If there's one player who compares easily to Micah Parsons, it's Myles Garrett. Garrett leads the way for the Browns' defense with 3.5 sacks so far this season. 

After Garrett, the Browns have Isaiah McGuire on the defensive line, who can get after the quarterback as well as Devin Bush Jr. at linebacker. Each of them has recorded one sack and two QB hits. Anthony Belton filled in pretty well in pass protection against Washington, giving up zero pressures, but against a player of Garrett's caliber, I think the Packers will be more than glad to have Zach Tom back on the field to protect Jordan Love if he is ready to go. If not, Belton will have a tall task ahead of him. 

Moving back to Cleveland's secondary, we see Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II at the corners creating a very promising duo, with Devin Bush mainly lining up at the slot. Cleveland's secondary did well against Cincinnati's receivers in week 1, but came down to earth a bit against Baltimore, giving up 205 yards to Ravens' wide receivers, including 64 to the ageless wonder, DeAndre Hopkins. 

Jordan Love will likely find the bulk of his success in spreading the ball around, as is what always seems to be the key to the Packers' passing offense. Cleveland's defense has only given up 42 yards to tight ends after two games, but Tucker Kraft could be their first challenge after coming off a huge game against Washington. With Kraft coming off an injury scare that made all of Packer National hold their breath for about an hour, it remains to be seen how much he will play. If Kraft has his normal workload, he could be a problem for Cleveland, if not, we will look for Luke Musgrave to capture the momentum he had his rookie season and take Kraft's place even if for just one game. 

When it comes to the running game, Cleveland has been able to hang its hat on stopping running backs so far this year. They held Derrick Henry to only 23 yards on 11 carries, and only gave up 43 yards on 21 carries to Cincinnati's Chase Brown. Josh Jacobs has had a tough time returning to last year's form so far, but he has still had some success on the ground. This week may not be much better for Jacobs. He'll be up against the Browns' fifth overall pick, Mason Graham, who has been a great run defender already in his rookie season.  

This game will likely need to be won through the air, and it will depend on the offensive line's ability to keep Jordan Love clean and spread the ball around. 

What to See on Defense

In the last few years, the Cleveland Browns have made a ton of moves to try to finally get their franchise quarterback. They made a blockbuster trade to acquire Deshaun Watson three years ago, and this past offseason, they drafted Dillon Gabriel in the third round, along with Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round. All to be currently starting the 40-year-old Joe Flacco. Pause for laughter. That's not to say Joe Flacco isn't a good quarterback; it's to say that the Browns are going to Brown. Their inability and impatience with acquiring and maintaining a good quarterback is second to none. We call the Bears a QB death sentence. Well, at least the Bears held on to a decent Jay Cutler for eight seasons. The Browns haven't maintained a starting QB for more than five seasons since Bernie Kosar. 

Even if Joe Flacco still has some gas left in the tank, he's the very definition of a sitting duck. Cleveland's offensive line is banged up and struggling with Jack Conklin on the injured list with an elbow injury, as well as Joel Bitonio with a back injury, and the Packers' pass rush is going to be salivating. Flacco was never that mobile a quarterback. Even in his prime, he was just mobile enough to get by, but mainly made his mark through the air. Today, Flacco is a statue in the pocket. Flacco has been sacked four times this season, twice in each game against Baltimore and Cincinnati. If the Packers' pass rush, coming into this game averaging four sacks per outing, sticks to their terrorizing ways today, Flacco could be in trouble. Micah Parsons has not yet played a full workload and has still been effective in rushing the QB himself, and taking the load off those around him. If he has a full workload today, Packer fans could be in for a treat.

While Joe Flacco isn't very mobile, he does make up for it in experience, and he can still sling the ball when he has time. He has weapons in Jerry Jeudy at WR alongside Harold Fannin Jr. and David Njoku at tight end. Though the Browns rank 10th in passing offense, that's mainly from the necessity of quantity having to throw the ball to come back in each game. Let's face it, every losing team's passing attack looks good in garbage time. But Flacco's experience is sure to keep the Packers' secondary honest, as he can still hit an open receiver. Keisean Nixon is coming off one of his best games, recording nine PBU's, and Nate Hobbs fared pretty well in a limited fashion against Washington. I would look for them to have good games, as they perhaps benefit from a rushed and desperate Flacco most of the time. 

On to the rushing attack. Rookie Quinshon Judkins made his debut last week after not playing week 1 due to a delayed signing amidst his battery charge. In his debut, he ran for 61 yards on 10 carries. His fellow running backs, Jerome Ford and Dylan Sampson, aren't exactly big threats, but they will provide a healthy stable of carries whenever Judkins needs a breather. The Packers' rush defense has surprised many early this season, as everyone perceived them to be the defense's biggest weakness after the Kenny Clark trade. I guess no one counted on Devonte Wyatt and Colby Wooden to plug up the middle of the field as they've done so far. 

Despite the early success against Detroit's powerhouse running game and Washington's decent attack, stopping the run will be key in today's game. We don't need to be on the receiving end of Quinshon Judkins' breakout game, and if we're able to stop the run, the defense will likely be able to impose its will on Cleveland's offense. 

Extra Notes

Will the Green Bay Packers ever have a special teams unit that makes us proud? I think the answer is no. We're just destined for special teams blunders year in and year out. 

Brandon McManus missed a field goal attempt last week at the end of the half. That brings him to 4/5 on FG attempts this year. Let's hope that's his only miss of the entire year, and it's smooth sailing from here on out. 

The kick coverage team gave up a 50-yard return to Deebo Samuel against Washington as well as a 24-yard punt return to Jaylin Lane. The Packers' ST also committed two penalties on returns. At this point, I'd settle for just an average special teams squad. 

The good news is, Cleveland's ST unit isn't exactly stellar either. Corey Bojorquez, a former Packer, is the Browns' punter, averaging only about 45.7 yards on seven punts, and he has had one attempt blocked already this season. Kicker Andre Szmyt is 2/3 with a long of 45 yards. 

Perhaps this could be a game for the Packers' special teams to "get right" and turn the corner. We can only hope. 

In the End

We've got our first road game today in the Dawg Pound. The Browns' faithful don't care how poor their team might be; they will still bring some energy, but I would expect that crowd to be littered with Green and Gold as well. 

After today, the Packers will head to Jerry World in Dallas to face Kenny Clark and the Cowboys. There's no doubt the Cowboys might be ready to prove that they're the ones who benefited from the Micah Parsons trade, but Micah Parsons will likely be ready to take some revenge. 

We will be hoping for a 3-0 start after today with very minimal to no injuries, before we head to Dallas next week. Go Pack Go.