The Cleveland Browns got in the win column on Sunday, topping the Jacksonville Jaguars by a score of 18-13 in their Week 2 matchup.
However, while it was nice that the Browns rebounded from their season-opening loss, there was a massive concern for Cleveland in the victory: discipline.
The Browns committed 13 penalties for 100 yards against the Jaguars, and Bleacher Report's NFL staff sees it as a significant problem going forward.
"The defense ultimately made enough of a stand to bail out the Browns, but this team just can't be viewed as a legitimate contender until Kevin Stefanski has it playing clean, efficient football," Bleacher Report wrote.
Cleveland was also flagged 11 times in its Week 1 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, giving the team a whopping 24 penalties through two games this season.
The Browns managed to eke out a win over Jacksonville in spite of all of their miscues, but if Cleveland wants to have any chance of competing in the rugged AFC over the course of 2024, it is going to have to cut out the mental errors.
"The bad news is that if Cleveland can't stop hurting itself with avoidable mistakes, winning consistently will be difficult," added Bleacher Report.
The truth is that otherwise, Sunday's triumph looked an awful lot like 2023 for the Browns: great defense, a solid running game and passable quarterback play that led to a victory.
However, it seems hard to imagine that Cleveland will be able to build any sort of winning culture this year if it continues committing costly penalties.
