No, you don’t need to wipe your glasses and read it again. I actually think Cleveland can make the postseason this year, although it is a longshot. The dry spell has to end sometime, and 2018 could be the year amidst a power shift in the upper echelons of the NFL. This team could shock a lot of us, and there are 5 big reasons to believe so.
- Denzel Ward and Myles Garrett
These two showed up on Sunday, albeit against an anemic Pittsburgh offense. Ward was (debatably) the most controversial pick of the draft, but 2 picks off a Hall of Famer in your debut ain’t too shabby. Garrett also had 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles, proving that he deserved the #1 pick last year. The talent of these guys, combined with the consistency of a guy like Joe Schobert, could form the beginnings of a powerful defensive core to build around. As any middle aged white man will tell you, defense wins championships, or in the Browns case, gives you a chance to.
2. An effective RB committee
So often, we see teams without a truly great running back try the committee approach to no avail (looking at you, Packers and Redskins). But the Browns might have the right idea with their RB group. We’ve seen Carlos Hyde be serviceable with the Niners, and Duke Johnson is the most underrated pass-catching back in the league, but the crown jewel might be Nick Chubb, the second rounder from Georgia. He’s the most talented of the three, and you just know he’ll be great because he had that nasty injury in college and he came back. For now though, he needs to bide his time and find a way to achieve his potential. He fits nicely into the Browns backfield until that happens.
3. Jarvis Landry
Jarvis is a quiet beast. He had a disappointing year in 2017, but some of that can be attributed to poor QB play in Miami. He’s a guy who you can throw 100 balls to and expect results from. In the aftermath of the Josh Gordon release, the Browns will be in desperate need of a reliable target for Tyrod/Baker. Landry can provide that while also creating favorable matchups against weak AFC North secondaries.
4. They didn’t lose???
A tie was the Brownsiest way to end the losing streak, but maybe the losing mentality that clouds over the city has a tiny little streak of sunlight shining through it now. Hue Jackson is technically undefeated since he took that bath in Lake Erie. Perhaps he keeps it up.
5. Competent QB play
After a long, long time of waiting, we finally cleared the air about this question on Sunday: what can the Browns do with an actual QB under center? The answer? Be meh. Tyrod Taylor is fine, but he’s also efficient, which led to actual points on the board. Imagine what Baker could do for them, after getting an ego deflation from riding the bench for freaking Cleveland. If the Browns can be meh at QB for a whole season, they could go 9-6-1 in their lousy conference. That can get you a playoff spot while we’re still in this AFC transitional period.
There you have it. Feel free to fight in the comments if you’re fired up and angry that the Ravens lost to the red rocket. I hope you all feel like you’ve had your hot take fill for the day, and I’ll see you next week for some more early season overreactions.
Burke
CC Sports Weekly 