The Cleveland Browns’ franchise has long been associated with poor decision-making, draft busts, bad luck, and frustrating losses. However, this year, Cleveland fans are not wearing paper bags over their heads while cheering for their beloved Brownies. Playing in a notoriously tough AFC North division, which is particularly brutal this season, the Browns have stood tall and shown true grit in the face of substantial adversity.
Cleveland lost starting right tackle Jack Conklin to a torn ACL in the first game of the season vs Cincinnati. The following week, four-time Pro Bowl RB Nick Chubb suffered a gruesome knee injury during a goal-line carry vs Pittsburgh. Video footage from Chubb’s incident is nasty enough to strip the soul from even the stoutest of football fans. Oof.
In a division shared with the likes of the Baltimore Ravens (the AFC’s top seed), Cincinnati Bengals (reached the Super Bowl in 2022), and Pittsburgh Steelers (still mathematically alive at 9-7), the Chubb injury appeared to be a death blow for the Browns’ Super Bowl hopes (which were not all that lofty or believable to begin with).
The Cleveland Browns Nick Chubb is expected to miss 6-8 months.
— NFL Rumors (@nflrums) September 23, 2023
Chubb injury is not expected to be career ending 🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/iMg5jSj1K9
Cleveland lost that emotional game in Pittsburgh 26-22, and Deshaun Watson was exposed by the Steelers’ defense. Watson threw a pick-six to LB Alex Highsmith on the first offensive play of the game, and then was strip-sacked by Highsmith and T.J. Watt late in the fourth quarter for another defensive touchdown. All of a sudden, the Browns had lost two key offensive starters for the season, and Watson was struggling mightily.
The outlook for the Browns was indeed bleak, but as they say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Former Brown RB Kareem Hunt was re-signed to help Jerome Ford shoulder the running back duties in Chubb’s absence, and head coach Kevin Stefanski kept his group focused. Instead of packing it in, the Dawgs dug deep to win three of their next four games, including an impressive 19-17 win vs the NFC’s top-seeded San Francisco 49ers. Entering Week 9, the Browns had a respectable 4-3 record. Cleveland showed gritty resilience and played consistently formidable defense.
Unfortunately for the Browns, more devastating injuries were on the horizon. Starting left tackle Jedrick Wills went to the IR after a freak accident during Cleveland’s 27-0 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 9. Then Watson’s wobbly campaign ended in Week 10 when the Ravens dealt the quarterback a season-ending shoulder fracture. Despite all of these setbacks, the Browns found themselves with a 6-3 record when the dust settled. Stefanski and the Browns have clearly changed the culture in Cleveland.
Cleveland squeaked out a 13-10 victory over Pittsburgh in Week 11, but replacement QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson struggled mightily. Former Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco was signed to the Browns’ practice squad the next day. The quarterback situation became a full-blown conundrum in Week 12, when the Broncos blew Cleveland out 29-12 in Denver. Neither Thompson-Robinson nor P.J. Walker proved to be reliable.
Flacco was back in the saddle Week 13 and he performed pretty well, although the Los Angeles Rams did buck the Browns 36-19. After that bump in the road, Flacco and the Browns have played brilliant and impassioned football, putting the NFL on notice. Flacco is enjoying a magical and historic run, and the 38-year-old veteran is proving all of his doubters wrong. Flacco is Fire, and he’s burning down the Hater House.
Joe Flacco is making history in Cleveland 🔥 pic.twitter.com/57YJmUMaaG
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 2, 2024
Johnny Manziel wants Joe Flacco to pass him on the Browns' all-time passing list. 👊 pic.twitter.com/7NaAqCT6F5
— theScore (@theScore) December 30, 2023
NFL Comeback Player of the Year odds, via DraftKings:
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 29, 2023
• Damar Hamlin: -150
• Joe Flacco: +100 pic.twitter.com/z6G7sppGtn
With Flacco under center, Cleveland is riding an improbable four-game winning streak, and the Browns clinched a playoff spot with a 37-20 victory over the New York Jets this past Thursday night. The former Raven’s gunslinger is throwing darts, breaking records, and the Browns might very well be peaking at the optimum moment.
Despite having 4 QBs play … despite losing 3 offensive tackles…despite losing Nick Chubb…despite losing multiple players on defense….
— MoreForYouCleveland (@MoreForYou_CLE) December 29, 2023
YOUR CLEVELAND #BROWNS ARE A RESILIENT 11-5 HEADED BACK TO THE PLAYOFFS🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/jfgpP41P9w
The Browns beat the same Jets squad that “only needed a quarterback” to compete for a title, and had tossed Flacco to the proverbial curb. Imagine if the Jets had given the same length of rope to Flacco that they offered to Zach Wilson. The same ridiculous rope that Wilson eventually hung himself with (along with the Jets’ playoff hopes), could have been used by Flacco to lasso in another Lombardi Trophy. We’ll never know.
To show his appreciation to the Jets, Flacco threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns to wrap up a postseason berth for the Browns, before falling asleep on the sidelines.
The Jets were sleeping on Joe Flacco so he decided to return the favor. pic.twitter.com/Godyr8Z1Ru
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) December 29, 2023
Joe Flacco, remarkable.
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) December 29, 2023
Setting an all-time @Browns mark, an all-time @NFL mark and matching a @TomBrady record tonight, in one fell swoop. pic.twitter.com/Ez5jD0NY2h
The Browns have locked up the AFC’s 5th seed and are looking legit scary with the playoffs on the horizon. Cleveland has already beaten the top two teams in the league this season, with victories over both San Francisco and Baltimore. Will we have the opportunity to witness an unflappable Flacco leading the Browns to a Super Bowl victory 11 years after leading the Ravens (formerly the Browns) to a championship?
As the Beach Boys say, Wouldn’t It Be Nice?
The Browns won four NFL championships before the AFL-NFL merger (1950, 1954, 1955, 1964), but they have never won a Super Bowl. Why not now? Flacco is a strong candidate for Comeback Player of the Year, Myles Garrett is in the hunt for Defensive Player of the Year, and Stefanski is the frontrunner for Coach of the Year. The Browns play with electricity, energy, passion and toughness. Cleveland has its mojo working, and will be a tough out regardless of who they face in the postseason.
