Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season featured a showdown between two former Clemson star quarterbacks – Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson.
The matchup turned out to be very one-sided.
Lawrence shined while leading the Jacksonville Jaguars to a dominant 34-10 victory over the struggling Watson and the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
Coming off an MVP finalist campaign in 2025, Lawrence put on a masterclass against Cleveland, completing 18 of 23 passes for 245 yards and four touchdowns with a 150.6 passer rating.
Lawrence connected with Parker Washington, Josh Cameron, Brenton Strange and Jakobi Meyers for touchdowns, with three of those TD passes coming in the first half as Jacksonville built a 24-0 halftime lead and never looked back.
Meanwhile, Watson struggled heavily in his return from a long absence, completing 16 of 22 passes for 205 yards and one touchdown with one interception. He took five sacks and posted a 97.7 passer rating.
Watson’s day got off to a rough start, as he threw an interception to Foyesade Oluokun on Cleveland’s first possession. After almost throwing another pick on the Browns’ second drive, he suffered a strip-sack on the third drive but recovered the fumble.
Watson did at least end his day on a positive note, throwing a 46-yard touchdown pass to Denzel Boston with 1:52 left in the game for Cleveland’s first and only touchdown pass of the contest.
Watson’s extensive layoff followed consecutive Achilles tears — the first sustained in October 2024 and a second tear that wiped out his 2025 season. New Browns head coach Todd Monken named him the Week 1 starter over Shedeur Sanders following a training camp battle.
The 30-year-old Watson, a three-time Pro Bowler with the Houston Texans, is in the final year of his fully guaranteed $230 million contract. The 26-year-old Lawrence, a 2022 Pro Bowler, is coming off a 2025 campaign where he threw for 4,007 yards, a career-high 29 touchdown passes, and accounted for a franchise-record 38 total touchdowns while leading Jacksonville to the AFC South title.
The Jaguars will go on the road to face the Denver Broncos next Sunday, while Cleveland will travel to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday.
You can check out some highlights from Sunday’s game and some of what they’re saying about Lawrence and Watson below: