The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Browns should be primetime hit in 2019
The playoffs always were a longshot for the Browns after they stumbled to a 2-5-1 record before firing Hue Jackson.
Even when beating the Falcons and Bengals in back-toback games separated by a bye week raised their record to 4-6-1 and got the playoff talk going, players knew everything would have to fall just right for them to be playing in January.
Now the chances have come down to the Browns winning their last two games, needing a tie between the Colts and Titans on the final Sunday of the season plus a whole lot more.
It is unrealistic and the players know it. But that doesn’t diminish what the Browns have already accomplished with two games remaining nor dim the prospect of what to expect next season.
At 6-7-1, the Browns, along with the 10-4 Texans, have shown more improvement than any other team in the NFL.
You can insert your own joke about the Browns having nowhere to go but up from 0-16 last season here, but few people expected them to win even five games. They finish the season at home against the Bengals and on the road in Baltimore with a realistic chance to win at least seven games for the first time since 2014. Winning both games would give them their first winning record since 2007 when they were 10-6.
“That’s actually my goal,” safety Jabrill Peppers said. “The playoffs are something we can’t control. Having a winning record, that’s something we can control. That’s my main focus. Let’s win out. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. It gives us a stepping stone for next year.”
The Browns play the NFC West and the AFC East next year. They host the team with a corresponding record in the AFC South and visit the team with a corresponding record in the AFC West along with playing their three AFC North rivals twice each.
The reasons to be optimistic for the future start with Mayfield, defensive end Myles Garrett, Chubb, cornerback Denzel Ward and a front office led by General Manager John Dorsey. As Dorsey said last month, the Browns coaching job is now attractive – a sharp contrast to at any point the franchise made a coaching change since Bud Carson replaced Marty Schottenheimer in 1989.
Gregg Williams, 4-2 since taking over for Jackson, certainly deserves consideration, but Dorsey can be choosy, and if he gets it right that should make Cleveland an even more desirable spot for free agents looking to cash in in March. Money might be the No. 1 motivation for free agents looking for a new team, but they also want to win.
The Browns are playing well enough to earn “Sunday Night Football” status next season. They have not enjoyed that prestige since 2008.
They haven’t been on “Monday Night Football” since 2015 after their 7-9 finish in 2014.
The game between the Browns and Rams next season will be played at FirstEnergy Stadium. Just speculating here, but how about a Sunday Night game pitting Mayfield against Rams quarterback Jared Goff?
Brighter days – and brighter nights – are ahead for the Browns, even if their 2018 playoff bubble has burst.