Going into the season, the expectations around the Cleveland Browns were reasonably low. New coaching staff, the youngest roster in the league, uncertainty at the quarterback position, and the team just traded one of the best defensive players of this generation to Inglewood. Fast forward to early November, the Browns are 5-3 and are still in the playoff hunt in the AFC
.Considering how many believed that around this time Cleveland would be in “making mock drafts” territory (Editor’s Note: I did
create one recently, just one), 5-3 is better than what anyone thought.
As people will question how good the Browns are, it’s a fair process to go through. However, in this day and age, context is rarely used correctly. Going into the season, Cleveland had one of the easier schedules. In the first 8 games of the season, the Browns were only favored in 1 of their 5 wins, their most recent one:
- Week 2 @ Buccaneers: 23-19
- Week 3 vs Panthers: 21-18
- Week 4 vs Steelers: 27-24
- Week 6 vs Ravens: 13-10
- Week 7 @ Titans: 27-24
Fans’ confidence in the team has waxed and waned throughout the season, but is higher than it was before the season.
If you want to argue which win was most impressive, you can make an argument that it was the home win against the Steelers. The final score doesn’t indicate how the game actually went. If you rewatched that game, the Browns looked like the better team throughout, and it was a surprise to everyone watching that night. Winning in the NFL is hard, and it doesn’t matter how you do it.
Is Cleveland a good football team? Bad football team? Neither. Average, so far, but young.
Offensively, despite their issues, they are better than last year. Having better personnel helps, but the scheme is better than last season. Defensively, the unit isn’t as dominant as last season, but it’s still regarded as one of the better units in the NFL. Progress is being shown even if the results aren’t as impressive. If the team were winless or 1-7, we would argue that the Browns are making any progress at all.
Instead, the team is 5-3 and exceeding expectations. It’s possible that the team goes over their win total sooner rather than later, and it’s possible that the team is playing meaningful games towards mid-November and early December.
How would you analyze the Browns season so far?
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