Bleacher Report predicts the Browns will finish last in the AFC North this season

Despite an 11-win season and a playoff appearance in 2023, one analyst at Bleacher Report doesn’t believe the team will be successful this season. Maurice Moton wrote an article predicting which teams would finish last in each division, with the Cleveland Browns being his pick in the AFC North with an 8-9 record.

“Though the Cleveland Browns made the playoffs last year, how can any objective pundit confidently pick them to make the postseason in back-to-back years with a quarterback who’s struggled on the field and with injuries? When you bundle Watson’s inefficiencies with Chubb’s questionable status and three offensive tackles coming off season-ending injuries, anyone could understand why Cleveland could take a step back in 2024.”

I have a few issues with this assessment, and the first one is that it does not acknowledge how good this roster is overall. The defense is stacked, and they showed last year that they can carry the offense at times when they struggle.

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Yes, there are significant questions at quarterback, but head coach Kevin Stefanski has shown he can win despite low-level quarterback play during his time in Cleveland. At times last year, the Browns had some of the worst quarterback play in the NFL, and Stefanski and company won big games despite that.

Stefanski knows how to utilize his personnel on offense. Although Chubb’s status is unknown, the combination of Jerome Ford, Nyheim Hines, and D’Onta Foreman is more than capable of getting the job done on the ground. When you mix that with a group of talented pass catchers in Amari Cooper, David Njoku, and Jerry Jeudy, you have a good group around Watson.

Last year, the Browns were ravished by injuries, and it doesn’t seem likely that will happen again. The team had a ridiculous amount of their salary cap on injured reserve last year and won 11 games, another reason why the odds of them finishing last in the AFC North are low.