After the Cleveland Browns beat the Carolina Panthers in Week 3 of the 2026 NFL season, we asked our readers to share why they believed the team was winning games. The answers were a little all over the place, which is not only to be expected but maybe the point for a young team with a lot of moving parts.
After the Browns’ victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football to kick off Week 4, the answer might just be the word “And.” Simple but confusing, right?
A few years ago, there
was a trend involving the ampersand (&) sign. It ended up on T-shirts, social media posts, and found its way into conversations about a variety of things. In sports, it was used to highlight a group of players from your favorite team. For this year’s Cleveland team, the problem is that the list of reasons they are being successful would be too big for a T-shirt (and we will probably miss one).
Yet, the reason the Browns are 3-1 and will enter Week 5 with at least a share of the AFC North lead is the “and” of it all. Each game has heroes, not a hero. Each game has had big plays, not just a big play. Each win saw multiple coaching decisions and scheme adjustments, not just one key one.
Players, not player.
&
Coaches, not coach.
&
Efforts, not effort.
&
Decisions, not decision.
&
Sacrifices, not sacrifice
The list goes on and on and on.
The difference between this positive start to Cleveland’s season and the few others that they have had seems to be in the collective. The Browns are not winning games just because their opponents make mistakes. Cleveland isn’t winning games because of some heroic effort by an individual or two. The Browns didn’t pull off an upset because of terrible weather, a trick play, or some fluke injury.
It is “the we and the us and the we-n-us” like the fictional character Zava from “Ted Lasso” said:
That is also why these three straight wins have come down to the wire, left us breathless and shaking at times, and left us wondering how easily things could have gone sideways. And thankful that they did not.
The Cleveland Browns are 3-1 AND leading the AFC North AND have a chance to build on the wins AND have extra draft picks AND have the greatest fanbase supporting them AND, at least for one day, are the talk of the NFL.
Bask in it Browns fans; enjoy the team-oriented wins. Welcome to Victory Friday, Victory Saturday, Victory Sunday, and Victory Monday. They are so, so sweet.
