It’s funny how conventional wisdom in sports gets influenced by the media hype machine. Networks like ESPN jump on storylines, and conventional wisdom builds around their narratives.

In recent years, the Browns got a ton of buzz when Baker Mayfield was driving all of the attention. This season, in the aftermath of last season’s drama with Deshaun Watson, the Browns were flying under the radar despite loading up the roster in the offseason.

Meanwhile, if you were watching the betting lines leading up to this game, you’ve would have noticed that the sharps were all over the Cleveland Browns for this game. There were some good reasons behind this dynamic. The Browns had some serious issues on defense last season despite some very talented players. The Browns front office made a concerted effort in the offseason to fix the situation. Andrew Berry started this transformation by replacing defensive coordinator Joe Woods with Jim Schwartz, which was a massive upgrade. He then completely rebuilt the defensive line in an attempt to fix two glaring problems – the lack of defensive tackles who could stop the run, plus adding pass rushers to compliment Myles Garrett. Notable additions included free agents Ogbo Okoronkwo, Dalvin Tomlinson, Za’Darius Smith and Shelby Harris. On paper, this defense looked formidable, but we also had to see it on the field.

Meanwhile, Joe Borrow was getting over a calf injury that had prevented him from practicing most of the preseason.

Hence, the sharps were jumping on this game.

Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals saw the new and improved Browns defense on Sunday. The defense simply dominated the Bengals and Burrow from the first snap. The defensive line harassed Burrow the entire game while the secondary clamped down on the Bengals receivers, including Ja’Marr Chase who shot his mouth off before the game about the Browns and the city of Cleveland.

The Browns handily won the game, 24-3, and staked their claim as a team to be reckoned with this season.

The Deshaun Watson trade has rocked the NFL in many ways. After a grand jury in Texas decided against indicting Watson, the Browns won a bidding war to acquire the talented quarterback, and secured the deal with a fully-guaranteed contract for $230 million.

There was already plenty of controversy around any trade for Watson with 22 pending civil lawsuits, but the guaranteed money made the move even more controversial. NFL teams avoid large guarantees, and this contract blew away the guarantees given to other top quarterbacks. The fact that Watson, with all his legal troubles, was the recipient of this contract made it even worse for many. People will have different reactions to the Browns trading for someone saddled with these allegations, but the monetary award made it worse for many fans who felt that the Browns and the NFL were rewarding bad behavior.

But other NFL owners have also been complaining. They know that the Browns have turned the market upside down and that they will ultimately need to consider similar deals if they’re fortunate to land a top-tier quarterback. Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti was vocal in his displeasure, not that the Browns or their fans give a damn what the owner of the Ravens thinks about this. The Ravens will have to pay Lamar Jackson, and Browns fans will be happy to see that franchise also saddled with a monster, guaranteed contract, as most Browns fans see Jackson as a more limited quarterback than Watson.

And that leads us to the real issue here. The game in the NFL has been changing as the rules make it easier and easier for elite quarterbacks to dominate the game. Sure, defenses can still make a difference, but a team’s chances of winning a Super Bowl are very low without one of the 8 – 10 elite quarterbacks in the game.

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Two of the best teams in the AFC went head-to-head in the season opener, and for most of the game the Browns were in control. They moved the ball at will against the Chiefs defense and managed to get some stops against the amazing KC offense. The Browns were driving again in the third quarter with the opportunity to take a three-score lead when Nick Chubb fumbled, and then things started to fall apart.
Punter Jamie Gillan muffed a snap and then tried to run when he didn’t have to, setting up a short field for the Chiefs. Along the way Patrick Mahomes made the sort of ridiculous plays that have made him the best player in the NFL.

But apart from the turnovers, everyone know the Browns can play with the Chiefs. Of course all the talking heads will go on and on about Baker Mayfield’s interception on the last drive. And Baker certainly has more to prove. He needs to show he can make things happen late in the game when everyone knows he needs to pass to get a winning score. So the Browns have much more to prove, but the Chiefs won’t be excited to play this team again.

The Browns covered the spread and should have won outright absent the turnovers. Can they take the next step and knock off the Chiefs? Nobody knows at this point. But they have the talent and the coaching staff to pull it off.

The Baltimore Ravens started the season against the Miami Dolphins, easily one of the worst teams in NFL history. Then they played the woeful Arizona Cardinals. After easy wins, naturally many in the press jumped to the conclusion that the Ravens were one of the best teams in the NFL. Oh, and suddenly Lamar Jackson was a cut below Patrick Mahomes.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns had plenty of hype coming into the season, and many in the pressed relished watching them struggle in their opener and then suffer some horrible play calls from Freddie Kitchens last week against the Rams. Many loved mocking Baker Mayfield for his slow start.

This poll from last week summed up the silliness we’ve been hearing. Lamar Jackson is a very talented player with a unique skill set, but there’s no way you take him over Baker Mayfield.

Who would you rather build your franchise around?

— GMFB (@gmfb) September 28, 2019

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Right – like we didn’t know this already.

Well, stuff like this will get plenty of attention, because Johnny Manziel loves the attention and outlets like ESPN can’t talk enough about him. The whole topic is already exhausting.

In the end, the key here is whether he can perform at the highest level while maintaining this partying lifestyle. The best quarterbacks live and breath football, so you have to wonder about a trip to Las Vegas in the middle of his first OTAs with the Browns. Did he really maximize his learning of the playbook by hanging out in Las Vegas? Only a fool would think that. But, the issue is how he plays when it matters. If he stumbles, stuff like this weekend’s events will be thrown back in his face over and over again.

This isn’t 1976 when party animal Kenny Stabler led the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl season. Johnny Football’s antic will be broadcast everywhere. If he plays well and wins he’ll add to his legend. If he messes up he’ll have to answer for it.