Panthers vs Browns: Matchups to watch

The Carolina Panthers bounced back from a big home loss to the Chicago Bears at home to notch a big win over the Atlanta Falcons on the road. They swept the matchups we highlighted in this space last week, particularly with the linebackers coming to play against Bijan Robinson (even though Robinson did manage a decent amount of rushing yards). Winning all the key matchups like that is an easy way to beat your opponent be 31 points. The Panthers will try to get a similar result in another road game, this time against the Cleveland Browns.Jaelan Phillips vs Tytus HowardThe Browns traded for Howard in the offseason to try to solidify a leaky offensive line. He hasn’t provided a great return on that investment yet. The Browns as a team have yielded seven sacks through two weeks, and all but one of them has come from an edge rusher (shoutout former Panther A’Shawn Robinson for the other). A fair amount of that is on DeShaun Watson for holding the ball too long, but still, it’s an opportunity for Phillips to make it three straight games with a sack to start his tenure in Carolina. Howard has had some struggles in pass protection, so it’s a matchup the Panthers will be looking for Phillips to win. Howard has been decent in the run game, but he’s been just about the only Browns lineman that can boast that, and if Phillips can hold up there, the front should be able to keep the Browns woeful run game in check.Jaycee Horn/Mike Jackson vs Denzel BostonThe safeties may have a role to play here as well, but the corners will get the bulk of the responsibility for covering the Browns rookie wide receiver. Boston has caught touchdown passes of over 40 yards in each of the first two games of the season. The Browns have not been good from play to play and drive to drive, so it’s paramount that the Panthers don’t let them off the hook with any big plays over the top. Now that it’s worked a couple of times, Watson will surely be hunting more deep looks to Boston in this one.Panthers interior offensive line vs Mason GrahamThe Browns have four sacks through two games. Two are from Mason Graham, and the other two are from safeties Grant Delpit and Ronnie Hickman. The rest of the Browns pass rush has been underwhelming so far (though there’s always a chance that Jared Verse wakes up). Based on the first two weeks, if the interior can hold up against Graham any blitzers from the secondary, the offensive line should be able to give Bryce Young time to find his targets.Cleveland Browns fans vs DeShaun WatsonBrowns fans have made it no secret that they’re not happy about their controversial quarterback getting paid tens of millions dollars per year to barely play and then play poorly when he does play. And Watson has not been shy about his frustration with people who are unhappy that he’s been a terrible quarterback while also allegedly being a terrible person. Shame on them, right? Well this will be Watson’s first regular season game in front of the home crowd. The Browns are coming off a win, and Watson played reasonably well in that win. It’ll be interesting to see if Browns fans will send more vitriol his way or if one decent performance in a win is enough to call off the dogs for the time being. Either way, if the Panthers defense can jump on Watson early and cause some poor offensive possessions, it’s very likely the crowd is going to turn on the home team and create a lot of strife.