The Cleveland Browns and New York Jets will celebrate the anniversary of the debut of Monday Night Football when they square off again this Monday, but both teams more likely are focused on forgetting what happened one week ago. The Browns flopped badly amid soaring expectations in their season opener and will look to get back on track when they visit the Jets in a prime-time matchup.
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Cleveland entered the season as perhaps the most hyped-up team in the league after acquiring superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to add to a promising young roster, but now it must regroup after getting dismantled 43-13 by visiting Tennessee in a humilating defeat. "Because everybody is going to throw us in the trash," Browns second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield told reporters of why he is confident the team will rebound. "I know how we are going to react. I know what we are going to do. ... We have a Monday night game coming up, so we do not really care. We are ready to go." The Jets also have to find a way to pick up the pieces after blowing a 16-point lead in a 17-16 home loss to Buffalo and learning this week that quarterback Sam Darnold has mononucleosis and will be sidelined indefinitely. New York should be plenty amped up anyway, particularly after Beckham provided bulletin-board fodder by telling reporters that Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams teaches his players to deliver "cheap shots" and "dirty hits."
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Browns -6.5. O/U: 44
ABOUT THE BROWNS (0-1): Cleveland actually trailed by only two in the waning minutes of the third quarter before surrendering 28 unanswered points to the Titans, capping a disastrous performance in which they committed a staggering 18 penalties for 182 yards. Beckham, acquired from the New York Giants in the offseason, had seven receptions for 71 yards in his much-ballyhooed Browns debut while Mayfield struggled mightily, throwing for 285 yards and a touchdown but tossing three interceptions while absorbing five sacks. While Nick Chubb gained 75 yards on 17 carries, Cleveland allowed 123 yards rushing to Tennessee.
ABOUT THE JETS (0-1): Much of the team's optimism was based on the expected progress of Darnold, but his illness paves the way for Trevor Siemian to make his first start since 2017 with Denver. It continued a dismal week for the Jets, who saw linebacker C.J. Mosley exit the season opener with a groin injury and wide receiver Quincy Enunwa (neck) placed on season-ending injured reserve. The one positive for the club was that an MRI exam showed no structural damage in the shoulder of Le'Veon Bell, who accounted for 92 total yards and a touchdown in his Jets debut. Williams waved off the accusations by Beckham, telling reporters: "Odell who?"
EXTRA POINTS
1. Mayfield made his first start in Week 3 last season as the Browns beat the Jets 21-17 to end a 19-game winless streak.
2. Siemian spent parts of three seasons with the Broncos, going 13-11 as a starter in 2016 and 2017.
3. Cleveland beat the Jets 31-21 on the first telecast of Monday Night Football on Sept. 21, 1970.
Prediction