Saturday Dawg Chow (9/6): X factors, green dots, key matchups, and more!

Only one more day until the Cleveland Browns open the 2025 regular season. While we count down the hours, let’s kick off the weekend with the latest news and notes about the Browns and the NFL in today’s edition of the Saturday Dawg Chow.

Dawgs By Nature:

• Browns roster: X-factor on offense, defense, special teams for 2025 (Barry Shuck) – The Cleveland Browns need big years from these three players.
• Browns vs. Bengals: Week 1 Need to Know (Thomas Moore) – The Cleveland Browns open the 2025 season by hosting the Cincinnati Bengals. Here is everything to know about the game.
• How the Browns can humiliate the Bengals and reclaim Ohio (Matt Wilson) – If the Browns are going to win this game comfortably on Sunday, they need to be successful in one specific area.
• Weak on weak, unheralded WR could decide AFC North battle (Curtiss Brown) – The Cleveland Browns vs. the Cincinnati Bengals has some interesting roster matchups, but Cleveland could flip the betting odds on their head.

Cleveland Browns:

• Carson Schwesinger to wear the green dot in the Browns season opener (clevelandbrowns.com) – Late one night at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was looking for a snack. He wandered into the linebacker room, hoping to have luck there, but instead found rookie LB Carson Schwesinger watching film. That kind of dedication, Schwartz said, has helped Schwesinger earn more responsibility and earn the respect of his coaches and teammates.
• Can the Browns be ‘watchable’? My prediction column (Terry Pluto) – Here’s one of the things I like best about this Browns season: We don’t have to talk about Deshaun Watson. I believe this is a huge plus for the organization and the fan base.
• ‘Going to be good’: Browns’ Denzel Ward, Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase await latest showdown (Beacon Journal) – Myles Garrett generates a whole lot of attention when the Cincinnati Bengals show up on the Browns’ schedule. Considering how he’s lived in the nightmare of Bengals quarterbacks over the years, it’s understandable. Lurking right behind Garrett, though, is another Cleveland defensive player who has made games against Cincinnati some of his best work. Specifically, he’s made games against the Bengals’ best wide receiver some of his best work.
• Joe Flacco’s still got the technique — and hopefully a little more left in the tank (Browns Zone) – Joe Flacco’s throwing motion has earned him a bunch of victories, a Super Bowl MVP, and approximately $200 million. It’s one of the primary reasons he’s the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns at 40 years old.

NFL:

• From Journeyman to ‘Better Mayfield’: Baker Mayfield Seeks Next Step in Revival (Fox Sports) – The surprising revival of Baker Mayfield’s NFL career has built enough buzz that this summer, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback landed a commercial endorsement from Popeye’s, whose new and improved wings inspire him in the ad to be “Better Mayfield.”
• [Steelers DT...