Browns: Whatever happens this week, this year has been a success

The Cleveland Browns will fight for their playoff life on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers and win or lose, it’s been a great season.

The Cleveland Browns just have to win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they’re in the 2020 playoffs. That doesn’t mean it’s a lock, because the Browns could suffer more COVID-19 issues and go into that game down even more players. That’s always a possibility but considering how dinged up the Steelers have been, it’s entirely likely that the team sits a lot of their players. After all, if all three wild card teams currently in the playoffs win on Sunday, that means the Browns would be the seventh seed. Since the Bills and Steelers both play teams vying for wild card spots, that would mean that everything stands pat and the Browns would face the Steelers in the opening round of the playoffs.

That’s far more meaningful to the Steelers and Mike Tomlin than trying to keep the Browns out of the playoffs. Risking Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of his star players just doesn’t make sense.

Let’s play “what if?“. Just for the sake of argument, what if the Steelers beat the Browns, and the rest of the whacky playoff scenarios unfold and the Browns somehow miss the playoffs. Would the season be a failure or even a disappointment? Honestly, no. No, it wouldn’t. The expectations rose in the middle of the season because the team showed they were for real. Let’s not forget, however, that at the start of the season, before a snap had been made, the Browns were expected to win anywhere from six to eight games.

The team has already exceeded their preseason expectations. Nothing else matters, in that regard the team is a success. Let’s go further, though. Baker Mayfield ascended to a level that many had hoped he’d get to or believed he couldn’t reach. He made himself the team’s franchise quarterback. Kevin Stefanski brought in a good offense with an even better culture that players bought into. The team built the best offensive line in football; when it’s healthy. The Browns did all this without many people seeing this as a fluke; as the pieces were all there and didn’t just come overnight.

Not just that, but remember just three years ago this team was 0-16, and four years ago it was 1-15.

This team has exceeded expectations, but it also redefined expectations. It changed the culture of this football team forever in Cleveland. This year has made the Browns a respectable franchise, for years to come. The team is no longer a joke, and its image is forever improved because of this season.

In any and every quantifiable way, this season has been a success.