Football season is here (finally), and we have a full slate of games over the course of four days this week to tune into. If you're like me, you're about to spend a lot of time yelling at the television, and I couldn't be happier to do so. There are a lot of great games this week, and while Cleveland Browns vs.
Jacksonville Jaguars may not immediately stand out as one of the top games to watch, I believe it's one you should tune in to (here's why). This game has all the drama and intrigue of new coaches, quarterback returns, on-edge fans and the potential for a major — yet unlikely — upset. The Browns are entering their first year under head coach Todd Monken, while the Jags are in their second year under Liam Coen and need to prove last year's major season-to-season improvement wasn't a fluke.
Their defense gave up the fewest points per game in the NFL in the last eight games, and quarterback Trevor Lawrence excelled during that time as well. They're coming off an AFC South title; Trevor Lawrence was in the MVP conversation last year, and he put up some of his best numbers. They have Travis Hunter back and a solid overall team, and CBS Sports has them at 10-7 and in the playoff picture.
Jacksonville hasn't made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons since 1998-99. Cleveland's offseason has been nothing short of a soap opera. Veteran Deshaun Watson came out on top of the quarterback competition, but not without some — or a lot of — criticism.
Watson, who signed a historic five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract with the Browns in March 2022, has had a complicated, injury-plagued history with the team. Needless to say, Watson's journey with the Browns has not been a smooth one and fans have made it known they haven't been a fan of what they've seen on the field so far this summer. After a rocky training camp and preseason, fans booed the 30-year-old.
He responded by calling the fans' boos "personal" and "disrespectful," which the Dawg Pound did not take well and eventually led to an apology from Watson. The team's other option at QB was Shedeur Sanders, who famously dropped to the fifth round in the 2025 NFL Draft after once being believed to be a first-rounder. Watson's history of unpredictable and unreliable play means the chances of Sanders coming in at some point this season are good.
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