Packers at Browns Big Three Game Preview

Betting Line: Packers are 8.5-point favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook. 

Weather: Partly cloudy with a high temperature of 85 degrees with a 10-mph wind and a 49 percent chance of an afternoon shower, according to Weather.com. 

Matchup History: The Packers lead the series 14-7, including one playoff game. The Packers have won six of the last seven matchups, including the last four. They have won the last three that have been played in Cleveland. 

Packers-Browns: Three Players to Watch for Cleveland 

1. DE Myles Garrett: Myles Garrett is one of the defensive players in the league. He has had double-digit sacks in all but his rookie season of 2017, finishing last year with 14. Garrett has continued his dominance in Year 9, as he’s tied for the league lead with 3.5 sacks.  

So far, the Packers’ offensive line has been one of the better units in football, holding opposing defenses to just two sacks. With right tackle Zach Tom’s status currently questionable, Garrett will be looking to exploit an offensive line that could be without its best player. 

2. RB Quinshon Judkins: After missing the preseason and the first game of his rookie season due to legal troubles and a contract dispute, Quinshon Judkins made his NFL debut for the Browns in Week 2.  

Judkins was a great runner in college, rushing for 1,060 yards and 14 touchdowns in his senior year at Ohio State. While he was unable to find the end zone in his debut, he showed his playmaking ability with a 31-yard run and finished with 10 carries for 61 yards. All but 4 yards came after contact. The Packers’ defense has been great against the run, so this will be a big matchup. 

3. CB Denzel Ward: As he enters Year 8, Denzel Ward has been one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL throughout his career. He led the NFL with 19 passes defensed in 16 games last season to earn his fourth Pro Bowl honor. In two games this season, he has only one PBU but has allowed just 37 receiving yards, according to Pro Football Focus.  

The Packers rank 12th in the NFL in passing yards per game and Jordan Love is fourth in passer rating. Alongside Greg Newsome II, Ward will be tasked with limiting a Packers passing attack that will be without Jayden Reed following his broken collarbone. 

Packers-Browns: Three Players to Watch for Green Bay 

1. LB Edgerrin Cooper: At third in the league in total tackles and solo tackles, Edgerrin Cooper has become one of the best linebackers in the NFL in just his second season. He has double-digits tackles in both games and added a half-sack and four pressures against Washington. 

As a leader of a defense that has been one of the best in the league, Cooper will need to pave the way for another dominant performance against an offense that ranks 16th in yards but 28th in points. 

2. DT Devonte Wyatt: One of the biggest beneficiaries of the addition of Micah Parsons, Devonte Wyatt has been a force in the middle of the defensive line. Wyatt has two sacks through two games, putting him on track to shatter his career high of 5.5 in a season. Among defensive tackles, he ranks first in pressures and second in batted passes.  

With the defensive line looking strong and the Browns’ offensive line having allowed four sacks and sitting at No. 29 in PFF’s offensive line rankings, he will have a great chance to continue dominating. 

3. TE Tucker Kraft: Coming off a career performance against the Commanders, it will be interesting to see what Tucker Kraft has for an encore against a strong defense in the Browns, who have allowed the fewest yards in the NFL. 

Kraft finished with 124 yards and a touchdown last week and has found the end zone in both games this season. In the absence of Jayden Reed, Kraft could be a bigger focal point on offense. Cleveland, however, limited Ravens star tight end Mark Andrews to one catch for 2 yards last week. 

Packers-Browns: The Three Phases 

Browns on Offense: The Browns ranked 28th in total offense and last in scoring last season with only 15.2 points per game. It hasn’t gone much better to start this season. While they are up to 16th in total offense, they again are 28th with 16.5 points per game. 

The Browns welcomed back 40-year-old Joe Flacco, who helped lead the team to the playoffs in 2023, and he remains the quarterback ahead of rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders despite the struggles on offense.  

Jerry Jeudy leads their receiving corps. He set career highs last season with 90 receptions for 1,229 yards but scored only four touchdowns. He is off to a slow start with nine catches but three drops. 

There is a big dropoff between Jeudy and their No. 2 receiver, Cedric Tillman, who failed to hit 350 receiving yards in either of his first two seasons. He has caught only 7-of-15 targets but leads the team with two touchdowns. They round out the receiver room with Isaiah Bond, who was a projected second- or third-round pick before going undrafted due to legal issues. Bond, who has elite speed, has two catches for 11 yards in his first two games. 

The Browns have a talented tight end in David Njoku, who caught 81 passes in 2023 and 64 passes in only 11 games in 2024. He has seven catches for 77 yards and no touchdowns this season. The team’s leading receiver is the other tight end, Harold Fannin, who has 12 catches for 111 yards. 

The Browns are near the bottom of the league in rushing offense at just 82 yards per game and have only scored once on the ground, though rookie second-round pick Quinshon Judkins provided a spark in his debut last week. 

Browns on Defense: The Browns are 26th in points allowed with 29.0 per game, but that hardly tells the story.  

Cleveland is No. 1 in total defense with 191.5 yards allowed per game. They are first against the run, including first with just 2.07 yards allowed per carry, and third against the pass.  

The Browns have a talented defensive roster led by one of the best edge rushers in football in Myles Garrett. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins is one of the best in the business, and the Browns fortified that group by selecting Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham with the fifth overall pick. 

The secondary is where things go sour. While cornerback Denzel Ward is a Pro Bowler, Greg Newsome allowed a 120.7 passer rating last season and Cameron Mitchell was charged with three of the four touchdown passes thrown last week by Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson. 

This could be a match made in heaven for the Packers, who have seven players with multiple catches this season, including a tight end who just came from a career game. 

Browns on Special Teams: The Browns’ kicker is first-year player Andre Szmyt, who is off to a rough start with one missed field goal and one missed extra point. Former Packers punter Corey Bojorquez is averaging 45.7 yards per kick, but he’s had one kick blocked and both returns against him have gone for 23 yards. 

If he gets out of the concussion protocol, the Browns’ returner is journeyman DeAndre Carter, who is averaging 23.6 yards per kickoff return and 13.7 yards per punt return. He averaged 31.9 yards per kickoff return for the Bears last year and had a 101-yard kickoff-return touchdown with the Commanders in 2021. 

Packers-Browns: Three Keys to Victory 

1. The Passing Game: The Browns own the best run defense in the NFL, only allowing 45.5 yards per game. They held Ravens star Derrick Henry to 23 yards on 11 carries last week. On top of that, the Packers’ rushing attack is off to a slower start this season, ranking 18th in yards per game and 21st in yards per attempt. 

With the Browns’ pass defense having so many gaping holes, Jordan Love and his receivers need to attack the defense through the air to open up opportunities on the ground for Josh Jacobs. The Browns have struggled with giving up big plays through the air this year. So long as they can protect Love, the Packers must exploit that weakness. 

2. Neutralizing the Pass Rush: Going up against the league leader in sacks and one of the better pass rushers of the era will not be an easy task for an offensive line that has had some key players go down with injuries. If right tackle Zach Tom doesn’t play, or even if he does play but isn’t quite back to 100 percent, the rest of the offensive line needs to step up. It will be a complete team effort to slow down Myles Garrett. 

3. Capitalize on Mistakes: Joe Flacco has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. The Browns’ turnover differential is minus-4, tying them with the Dolphins for the worst in the league.  

With the dominance the Packers have shown this season, it may seem like an easy game to win, but no NFL game is ever easy. The best thing they can do to make it easy on themselves is have the defense force Flacco and the Browns into mistakes, and the Packers’ offense needs to capitalize and score on those takeaways to earn another convincing victory.