This Sunday, the 2-0 Green Bay Packers hit the road for the first time in the 2025 season when they travel to face the 0-2 Cleveland Browns. Through the first two weeks of the young season, the Packers have looked like one of the best teams in football. Convincing home wins against two playoff teams from a year ago have them sitting near the top in virtually all major statistical categories. Life is good if you’re a Packers fan. Not so much for the Browns.

Cleveland has dropped two straight games to divisional rivals: a heartbreaking one-point loss to the Bengals, where their kicker missed multiple attempts, and then a blowout at the hands of the Ravens. They hung around for a bit in that one but ultimately fell apart late. So as Week 3 arrives, a 2-0 vs. 0-2 Packers-Browns matchup sounds like it should be an easy Sunday afternoon for Green Bay, right? Well, maybe not.

It’s always dangerous to face a winless team on the road. At 0-2, the season already feels like it’s slipping away, and the pressure on players and coaches ramps up quickly. Since the NFL merger in 1970, only 10% of teams have made the playoffs after starting 0-2. Start 0-3? Just six teams in history have rebounded to reach the postseason, with only four of those coming since 1990. This Browns team knows it’s essentially staring down a must-win game, even this early.

To their credit, the Browns have played better than the record suggests, at least on the defensive side of the football. Their defense ranks near the top of the league after two weeks. As mentioned earlier, if their kicker had connected on a field goal and extra point in Week 1, they’d have beaten the Bengals — a team with a healthy Joe Burrow and one of the league’s most high-powered offenses, which they held to just 17 points. That same Bengals offense that just put up 31 against the Jaguars defense coordinated by former Packers linebacker coach Anthony Campanelli.

Look at Week 2’s box score and you’ll see Baltimore put up 41 points, but a deeper look shows the Browns’ defense wasn’t the main culprit in that. Turnovers by the offense and miscues on special teams gave the Ravens short fields that led to 21 of those points. In reality, the defense held another elite offense to just 20.

And the defense is led by one of the NFL’s best players, Myles Garrett. Garrett is a problem in any matchup, but especially if the Packers are forced to start a rookie at right tackle. Reports from Wednesday’s practice were encouraging — both Aaron Banks and Zach Tom were limited participants, and the Packers will likely give them all week to show they’re ready. If not, rookie Amarius Mims could be making his second straight start. He held up fine in his debut, but he hasn’t seen anything close to Garrett’s level. The former Defensive Player of the Year is off to another dominant start with 3.5 sacks and 5 tackles through two games. If Garrett wreaks havoc early, the Packers will need to give Mims plenty of help, which could limit the playbook.

The Browns are also stout against the run. They held All-Pro Derrick Henry to just 2.1 yards per carry on 21 attempts last Sunday. Baltimore, one of the league’s best rushing teams year in and year out, managed only 45 yards on the ground against them. No team has stopped the run better than Cleveland so far. That’s a concern for Green Bay, whose ground game has been the weakest part of their offense. Through two games, the Packers have 213 rushing yards on 55 carries. Josh Jacobs leads the way with 150 yards on 42 carries — just 3.6 yards per attempt. It’s fair to expect more struggles this week, especially if Banks and Tom remain sidelined.

The good news for Packers fans is that while Cleveland’s defense is strong, their offense is the opposite. Led by 40-year-old former Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco, the Browns have struggled to move the ball and score points. It got so bad that rookie Dillon Gabriel entered late last week and accounted for one of their two touchdowns. Head coach Kevin Stefanski has already named Flacco the starter for Sunday, which should make Micah Parsons and company excited. Flacco has never been the most mobile quarterback, and at 40 he’s essentially a statue in the pocket. This season when Flacco is under pressure has been abysmal. He has thrown 3 interceptions and completed just 16 of 33 passes when pressured. His 23.5 passer rating under pressure is the second lowest in the league among all QB’s who have played 2 games. This fast, aggressive Packers defense should feast early and often.

Still, there’s a danger of overlooking the Browns. The Packers have a massive Week 4 showdown in Dallas — a Micah Parsons “revenge game” on Sunday Night Football — followed by their bye week. It would be naturally for them to be looking ahead to that Dallas matchup and then a quick getaway before a long slog to the playoffs. On paper, this looks like the kind of game Green Bay could put away by halftime. But these are the matchups where you often find yourself holding your breath in the fourth quarter longer than you’d like.

The Packers should win, and as 8.5-point favorites (as of this writing), the consensus is they’ll win big. Just don’t be surprised if the Browns hang around longer than anyone expects.