The Cleveland Browns defeated the Green Bay Packers 13-10 in the biggest shock of the NFL's Week 3 slate. In a defensive battle, the Browns held Green Bay to 230 total yards of offense and 3.8 yards per play.
Cleveland did a great job containing that Packers offense. In the meantime, Joe Flacco went 21-of-36 for 142 passing yards, zero passing touchdowns, and one interception. While he was going against a tough D in his own right, Flacco was nothing more than a game manager.
The Browns won this game due to the play of Quinshon Judkins, who had 94 rushing yards and one touchdown, and the stifling Cleveland defense. Yet, Kevin Stefanski has already committed to Flacco on the heels of that win, completely ignoring his lack of impact on the victory.
Joe Flacco Remains the Browns Starting QB
In three games this season, Flacco is completing 61.1% of throws for 631 passing yards with two passing touchdowns and four interceptions. His passing yards have decreased in each game, and he's completed fewer than 60% of his passes in Weeks 2 and 3.
The 40-year-old has a 57.7 overall grade (37th among 43 graded QBs) and a 58 passing grade (35th among 43 graded QBs) per PFF. The Browns know the limitations that Flacco has, but they trot him out there due to his experience and leadership. They believe that it is more valuable than what Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders can bring, but they need to hand over the reins sooner rather than later.
Gabriel is the QB2 on this team, and Sanders has been the emergency QB3. We all know that Flacco isn't in the team's future, so the Browns should get ahead of themselves by seeing what Gabriel can do. In the preseason, he was 25-of-37 (67.6%) for 272 passing yards, one passing touchdown, one interception, and one fumble lost.
As for Sanders, he was 17-of-29 (58.6%) with 152 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. It'll be a learning curve for sure if the Browns hand over the starting job to one of these rookies, but Cleveland should rip off the band-aid.
It's clear they have one of the best defenses in the league. The Browns are first in the NFL in total defense (204.3) and run defense (57.3) while being fourth in pass defense (147). Meanwhile, Judkins looks like a high-end tailback that makes Cleveland's ground attack formidable.
Those two reasons alone are the reason the Browns have a chance to win games, not their quarterback play. Sticking with a flawed option is downright insanity, especially when the alternatives could have much higher ceilings that actually help Cleveland, either now or down the line.
The boos and lack of scoring for 55 minutes against Green Bay say it all about Flacco's capabilities in 2025. Yet he's continuing to be given the benefit of the doubt on the back of his teammates carrying the load.