American football aficionados, you owe the Cleveland Browns an apology. So do most sportswriters—raises hand sheepishly—pundits, analysts and pretty much anyone with a television ever tuned to SportsCenter.
Here’s the thing: The Browns are good. Like, really good. Cleveland hired the obvious current front-runner to win Coach of the Year in Kevin Stefanski four seasons ago. They have the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett, spearheading an elite unit. They have the best strange story from this NFL season in quarterback Joe Flacco, the starter-turned-champion-turned-backup-turned-one-man circus tent revival. They’ve fought through injuries, losing Deshaun Watson (again), high levels of skepticism, a dreaded playoff history, an even worse recent postseason history and ridicule that sometimes came from its own fan base.
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The Browns are so good, in fact, that they’ve now sparked another round of NFL postseason seeding debate. Happens every year around this time. That said, this year, same as most years, there are strong points to be made. Cleveland’s 11 victories match the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs for the second most in the AFC. They might have picked up No. 12 last Sunday against Cincinnati, but they already knew where they’d be seeded, started their fifth QB this season (Jeff Driskel) and rested other critical players (Garrett) for the games that matter moving forward. Their reward for playing in the same division as the conference’s best team (Baltimore Ravens) is an away game against Houston to kick off these NFL playoffs in Saturday’s early window (4:30 p.m. ET, NBC). They even beat the Ravens once this season, while Houston needed a Tennessee Titans loss Sunday to win the AFC South. But they didn’t win the AFC North; Baltimore did.
Still, what’s not to like? Before the season started, well, quite a bit. The trade for Watson—and massive compensation dealt for him—had yet to highlight many returns on Cleveland’s investment. They did add a pair of defensive linemen, trading for pass rusher Za’Darius Smith from the Minnesota Vikings and signing defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, also from Minnesota, and Juan Thornhill, a projected starter at safety, from the Chiefs. Their 2023 draft added a bevy of bodies but no picks earlier than No. 74 in the third round. Those who picked the Browns to make the playoffs almost always cited the strength of their defensive line. But cornerback depth remained an issue, as did the Watson situation, as did losing Jadeveon Clowney in free agency.
Cleveland just kept winning. They won after offensive tackle Jack Conklin went on injured reserve (torn MCL/ACL) on Sept. 12. They won after star running back Nick Chubb landed in the same place, with the same injury, on Sept. 30. They won after Watson went down, too, hitting IR on Nov. 15 with a shoulder injury. Free safety Rodney McLeod soon joined them, as would wideout Michael Woods and three linemen: Jedrick Wills Jr. and Dawand Jones on offense; Maurice Hurst on defense. Now, linebacker Anthony Walker heads to the same place. Hasn’t mattered, though. Only four of the Browns’ six losses came by double digits, but the last one doesn’t really count, for the players who rested last Sunday and two others (Broncos and Rams) came soon after Watson went out and Flacco needed time to acclimate.
On Monday, Sports Illustrated polled three people who work in the NFL, asking each—one general manager in their conference, one scout in their division, one evaluator of the league—a simple question: What makes the Browns so good?
The general manager texted: “MG. Come on, bro. They did an excellent job of building around him, adding depth and freeing him from some double teams. He’s also incredible tbh. Wish we had one like him but no one else does.” In a follow-up text, the GM argued that Garrett’s season sack tally (14, or 2.0 fewer than in both 2021 or ’22) was misleading. This season, the GM wrote, marked Garrett’s best-ever—and with plenty of candidates to choose from.
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The division rival scout: “Coach. Duh. Watson out. Ton of injuries. How many QBs did they play [this season]? I mean, Flacco almost as old as me. Brought Hunt back. O-linemen off the street and starting. Really, most of Stef’s moves were near perfect.”
The evaluator: “Imagine others discounted this. But Flacco, the way he’s playing, there’s some good fortune involved here, too. The kind every other team in the league would take.”
Does any of this mean the Browns will topple the Texans and advance to the divisional round? Of course not. But it sure gives them a chance to play deeper into January, in a year when it truly seems like a half dozen teams, maybe more, could win the Lombardi Trophy next month. Early betting lines favored Cleveland (-1.5), despite the Browns playing on the road. Odd, yet serious question no one would have asked two months ago: Would you rather start Flacco in that game, or the amazing C.J. Stroud, who is as talented as Flacco is experienced but as young as Flacco is, well, old?
Regardless, who’s to quibble anymore. Since the 2002 season, Cleveland has made one playoff appearance, in its first year (’20) under Stefanski. One! This marks the Browns’ fourth playoff game since 1990. The future looks promising, but no need to skip ahead for now. Say Flacco plays well and limits turnovers. Say the Browns can run the ball. Say Cleveland’s defense does what it has already been doing. Say the sixth-seeded Dolphins beat the Chiefs on the road, thus handing the Browns a divisional-round game that’s not against Baltimore. Would a Ravens-Browns rematch in the AFC title game strike anyone as that unlikely? No. It’s not unlikely at all, not amid this season of resurgence. In Flacco they trust?
