Let’s get right to it. I very publicly disavowed the Cleveland Browns in June of 2022 after the trade for Deshaun Watson, and I’ve been hate-watching the Browns for most of this season. However, the vitriol has waned week by week. After Watson was finally done for the season (thanks for the 7 touchdowns in six games*) I found myself a little lost about this team. They are after all, the team of my youth, and probably a disproportionately sized aspect of my sports fandom. To be clear, I still condemn the front office for the awful trade and also starting this season without a viable backup quarterback. But I found myself taking a small measure of satisfaction when the plucky Browns overcame injuries and started accumulating wins. The Browns were winning despite the actions of the front office. In retrospect, perhaps I threw out the bath water with the baby when I roasted the team for mortgaging their future to acquire Watson**. After all, there are many players on that team that are incredible athletes and people. Guys like Nick Chubb, David Njoku, Myles Garrett*** are as likable as you’ll find in the NFL. And you’re hard put to find a fan base anywhere in sports that has endured more heartbreak and losing than Cleveland Browns Nation. The point here is that somehow, some way the Browns have found themselves authors of what could be the most compelling story in sports this year.
Fast forward to early December, and The Browns made a curious announcement about signing 38 year old Joe Flacco, who was last seen a year prior throwing interceptions for the New York Jets. Browns fans know him well, all he did was go 18-3 against Cleveland over the course of his career. (Of course, there are many quarterbacks that can make that same claim.) But it was pretty clear that PJ Walker and DTR weren’t ready for the job, so they pivoted to a veteran guy with a Super Bowl ring. Apparently Joe Flacco found the fountain of youth in his time away from the game, because he showed up and started effortlessly throwing 60 yard bombs. All he’s done is rattle off four straight wins with 13 touchdowns, help Amari Cooper set a record for receiving yards in a game, and clinched a playoff spot for the third time in 30 years. If this story was crafted by Hollywood writers, it would be dismissed as far too unrealistic.
I can’t imagine the giddy atmosphere across Northern Ohio right now. My sense is that it’s more than a couple of years ago when Baker Mayfield led the Browns to a playoff win in Pittsburgh. I think that because the Browns defense is other-worldly, there is a confidence that wasn’t there in 2021. And having the best passing attack in the league over the past month helps as well. And incredibly, the Browns still have a chance (albeit remote) to win the AFC north or even the AFC. Realistically, many things need to happen for that to be the case, but fortunately the Browns already played this week so they can sit back and watch what happens. We need Miami to win in Baltimore today, that’s a tall order, but that Dolphins team can score points in bunches, so I do think that’s going to be a close game down the stretch.
Cleveland football in January is more rare than a glass full of ice in Europe, so Cleveland fans need to cherish the next few weeks and soak up everything that goes along with it. For right now, we are a great story in sports, and not the usual doormat, and there’s no way that I am going to miss out on this.
Go Browns.
*That works out to 6.5 millions dollars per touchdown.
**Here's my break-up post from a while back. I stand by everything I wrote at that time.
***It is true that Myles Garrett did try to murder Mason Rudolph with a football helmet a few years ago.
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