It feels like I have been doing a lot of “I was wrong” articles this week. First it was the Las Vegas Raiders, and now it is the Cleveland Browns. But that”s how sports work. Some teams are better than expected, some are worse, and sometimes a team almost nobody believed in before the season suddenly starts winning games.
The Browns definitely fall into that category.
Cleveland entered 2026 with a new head coach, questions at quarterback and a defense that had just lost its best player after trading Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams. Garrett wasn’t just another good defensive player either. He left Cleveland as the franchise’s all-time sack leader after setting the NFL single-season record with 23 sacks in 2025.
Then the Browns opened the season by getting destroyed 34–10 by the Jacksonville Jaguars. At that point, it looked like everyone who doubted Cleveland might have been right.
Instead, the Browns have won three straight games and are now 3–1 and sitting atop the AFC North.
So how are the Cleveland Browns actually good this year?
Todd Monken Has Changed the Team
The Browns entered this season with a completely different voice leading the team. After moving on from Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland hired longtime offensive coordinator Todd Monken as its new head coach. Monken talked throughout the offseason about developing the young players on Cleveland’s roster, and four games into the season, that approach is starting to show.
This isn’t a team overwhelming opponents every week. Cleveland has already had several games where things haven’t gone according to plan, but they keep finding ways to respond.
That was obvious Thursday night against Pittsburgh. The Browns blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead and allowed the Steelers to tie the game at 24. Instead of collapsing, Deshaun Watson led Cleveland back into field-goal range before Andre Szmyt drilled a 56-yard game-winning field goal with 10 seconds remaining.
Good teams find ways to win games even when everything isn’t perfect. So far, Cleveland has done exactly that.
The Offense Isn’t Elite, but It Is Doing Enough
Let’s get one thing out of the way: Cleveland has not suddenly become an offensive juggernaut.
Through four games, the Browns have produced 1,170 total yards, an average of 292.5 yards per game. They have 68 first downs, have rushed for 407 yards and have thrown for 763 net passing yards. Opponents have actually outgained Cleveland 1,394 to 1,170 overall.
So why is the offense working well enough to win?
It starts with Deshaun Watson providing stability at quarterback after all the uncertainty surrounding the position entering the season. Watson isn’t playing like an MVP candidate, and Cleveland doesn’t need him to. The Browns need competent quarterback play that protects the football, moves the chains and gives the rest of the roster a chance.
Against Pittsburgh, Watson completed 24 of 33 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown, then led the drive that set up the game-winning field goal. Through the first three games, Watson had completed more than 68% of his passes with five touchdowns and only one interception.
Cleveland has also been excellent when it absolutely needs to extend drives. The Browns are 3-for-6 on fourth down, while their opponents are 0-for-4. They have also made all eight of their field-goal attempts this season.
Those aren’t flashy numbers, but winning close games often comes down to converting one fourth down, protecting the football on one possession or getting three points instead of coming away empty. Cleveland has been doing those little things.
Denzel Boston Has Been One of the Best Rookies in Football
The biggest surprise on Cleveland’s offense might be rookie wide receiver Denzel Boston.
Through four games, Boston has 13 receptions on 22 targets for 284 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while averaging an incredible 21.8 yards per reception. He has already produced games of 59, 95, 41 and 89 receiving yards, meaning he has recorded at least 40 yards in every game of his NFL career.
And this isn’t just good production for a rookie.
Through Thursday night of Week 4, Boston leads every rookie wide receiver in the NFL with 284 receiving yards. At his current pace, Boston would finish his rookie season with roughly 1,200 receiving yards.
To put that into perspective, Tetairoa McMillan won Offensive Rookie of the Year last season after recording 1,014 receiving yards. Boston’s current pace would comfortably surpass that total. It wouldn’t quite reach the incredible rookie seasons of Justin Jefferson, who recorded 1,400 yards in 2020, or Ja’Marr Chase, who finished with 1,455 yards in 2021, but simply being on pace to finish in that neighborhood shows how impressive Boston’s start has been.
Boston has quickly become Cleveland’s legitimate vertical threat. He caught a 46-yard touchdown in his NFL debut, scored on a 55-yard reception the following week and then exploded for a 60-yard catch against Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
For a Browns offense that desperately needed someone to emerge at receiver, Boston hasn’t simply filled a role. Through four games, he has been one of the most productive rookie wide receivers in football.
And he isn’t the only young player contributing. Harold Fannin Jr. has developed into another reliable target and caught a touchdown against Pittsburgh, while Quinshon Judkins has contributed both as a runner and receiver.
That’s important because Cleveland’s decision to trade Garrett was clearly about more than 2026. The Browns received Jared Verse along with first-, second- and third-round draft picks from Los Angeles. If Cleveland can remain competitive while simultaneously developing young talent and accumulating future assets, the direction of this franchise suddenly looks much better than it did a few months ago.
The Defense Didn’t Collapse Without Myles Garrett
This was probably my biggest concern with Cleveland entering the season.
How do you lose a player who recorded 23 sacks in one season and expect your defense to remain good?
Apparently, you replace his production collectively.
The raw defensive numbers aren’t perfect. Cleveland has allowed 1,394 total yards through four games, or 348.5 yards per game. Opponents have rushed for 473 yards and produced 921 net passing yards, while recording 88 first downs against the Browns.
But those numbers don’t completely explain how this defense has played since its ugly Week 1 performance. The Browns have changed their defensive approach under new coordinator Mike Rutenberg, becoming more flexible in coverage and more willing to create pressure from different places rather than relying on Garrett to wreck an offense by himself.
Against Carolina, Cleveland recorded three sacks and eight quarterback hits while holding the Panthers to just four conversions on 15 third downs. Then came Pittsburgh, where Cleveland intercepted Aaron Rodgers twice, sacked him five times and finished with eight passes defended.
Denzel Ward grabbed one interception, and Grant Delpit grabbed another on Pittsburgh’s final play to officially end the game.
That’s what has impressed me most about this defense. Cleveland doesn’t have Myles Garrett anymore, but it hasn’t stopped creating negative plays. Instead of asking one superstar to carry the pass rush, the Browns are finding pressure from multiple players and forcing quarterbacks into mistakes.
They Are Winning the Moments That Matter
This might be the real answer to the entire question.
Statistically, Cleveland doesn’t look like a dominant 3–1 team. The Browns have been outgained 1,394–1,170, have fewer first downs than their opponents 68–88, and currently have a minus-one turnover differential.
Normally, those aren’t numbers you associate with a team sitting atop its division. But football isn’t decided by who finishes with the prettiest box score.
Cleveland is converting fourth downs. Its opponents haven’t converted one. The kicking game has been perfect on field goals. The defense is creating sacks and turnovers in crucial situations. Watson is avoiding the catastrophic mistakes that can lose games, and when Cleveland needed a drive to win Thursday night, he delivered one.
The Browns aren’t dominating games.
They’re winning them.
And there is a big difference.
So, Are the Browns Actually Good?
Four games isn’t enough for me to suddenly declare Cleveland an AFC powerhouse. There are still legitimate concerns. The offense needs to become more consistent, the Browns cannot continue getting outgained every week and expect to win forever, and Watson still has to prove he can maintain his current level of play across an entire season.
But I was wrong about this team entering the year.
The Browns aren’t the disaster many of us expected. Todd Monken has this team competing, Denzel Boston has emerged as one of the best rookies in football, the defense has found ways to generate pressure without Myles Garrett, and Watson has provided stability at quarterback.
Most importantly, Cleveland has repeatedly made plays when games are on the line.
After getting embarrassed 34–10 in Week 1, the Browns could have fallen apart. Instead, they responded by winning three straight games.
Maybe Cleveland isn’t ready to compete with the best teams in the AFC yet. But at 3–1 and first in the AFC North, we at least have to start taking the Browns seriously.
And considering where expectations were before the season, that might be the biggest surprise of all.
What do you think? Are the Cleveland Browns actually good, or is this 3–1 start going to come crashing back down to earth?
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