Believeland! Flacco is putting Browns over top
Who would’ve ever thought we’d be saying “Browns” and “Super Bowl” in the same sentence in this lifetime? I didn’t. It’s time to accept it as a realistic notion and flush away the perennial doubts and omens that surround Cleveland.
The five-game sample size of Joe Flacco has been enough to assess what kind of noise the Browns are capable of making in the playoffs. Flacco has thrown for 300-plus yards in four straight games with a minimum of two touchdowns in all five of his starts, which is the longest streak for a Browns quarterback since 2018.
He joins an exclusive club of quarterbacks in the 2020s to hit 1,362-plus yards, 11-plus touchdown passes and a 4-0 record in four games: Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Tom Brady.
The 38-year-old vet is also doing this in complement to a defense that yields the overall fewest yards per play at 4.5. Before Flacco arrived, this unit was keeping the Browns three games above .500 with the offense producing 21.7 points. That was without All-Pro running back Nick Chubb and an ongoing quarterback carousel.
Myles Garrett has been the exclamation point in this effort. The All-Pro defensive end owns 14 sacks for 102 yards. Garrett surpassed Micah Parsons as the favorite to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year after logging three tackles in Week 17’s 37-20 win over the Jets.
The Browns are locked into the fiveseed going into their Week 18 meeting with the Bengals, which is merely an exhibition match. They are set to play the winner of the AFC South in the first round, which is a division they swept 4-0.
Looking ahead to all other AFC competitors, it’s the Ravens who have everyone’s attention right now. They slayed Super Bowl-favorite San Francisco then delivered the 56-19 decimation to Miami, which secured the top seed. But the Browns’ defense proved it can contain Lamar Jackson’s explosiveness when the Browns won 33-31 in Baltimore on Nov. 12.
The Browns are a team that offers upside on both sides of the ball and wins with grit, which could serve as a threat to anyone throughout January.
THE PLAY: Browns to win Super Bowl (35/1, BetMGM).