Inside linebackers Trevin Wallace and Christian Rozeboom will benefit from Carolina's upgrades on the defensive line. Wallace, for example, was able to collect a run stop in the first quarter when the interior front swallowed up double teams to help free the B-gap.

For Shedeur Sanders, who famously fell from a projected top-five pick all the way to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, he made the most of his NFL debut and may have just crashed the party in the Cleveland Browns crowded quarterback room.

Two plays later Sanders fired a 7-yard TD strike between two defenders to tie the game in the second quarter. After a couple of nifty runs and throws, Sanders found Davis again over the middle for a 12-yard score to give Cleveland the lead with 1:04 left in the first half. Davis finished with three catches for 23 yards.