The Cleveland Browns being 29th in ESPN’s Power Ranking seems low

The Cleveland Browns are not having a good year but 29th? Come on, man.

The Cleveland Browns are currently 29th in ESPN’s NFL Power Rankings, and that seems abusively low. The Browns are not a good team, and I’m fully on the “blame Andrew Berry” bandwagon for that one. I don’t think this team is talented, I don’t think it’s very deep and I think a few All-Pros have blinded fans to just how lackluster this squad is.

And even I think 29th is too low.

Right now ESPN has the Browns above the Houston Texans (32nd), the Carolina Panthers (31st), and the Denver Broncos (30th). That’s it. ESPN has them beyond the Pittsburgh Steelers (28th), Las Vegas Raiders (27th), the Jacksonville Jaguars (26th), the Chicago Bears (25th), and the Los Angeles Rams (24th).

And honestly, the Browns are a better team than all of them. I know pointing out that the Browns should be higher than a measly five spots isn’t exactly Nelson Mandela fighting against apartheid, but it’s important to properly categorize the Browns.

Those teams are all injury-plagued messes, with poor coaching. The Browns aren’t poorly coached. That’s the new stand I’m taking. The Browns are just poorly run. I truly do believe all that separates this team from the 2014 Cleveland Browns are about six players.

I don’t think this is a very talented team, I just think the team is over-relying on a few key players.

So in that respect, they’re overproducing.

The Cleveland Browns were the victims of preseason hype

All that has happened was foretold in many preseason writeups. People just didn’t want to believe it. The team isn’t very talented, that’s a sad reality of the situation and while the coaching staff, specifically Kevin Stefanski, has cost this team wins with his play-calling, it’s important to note something I always say after a close loss; if the game came down to one play, you deserved to lose.

The Browns are trying to win games while balancing on a razor, and we’re condemning them for their inability to do so. This team isn’t the best coached, especially with how Stefanski micromanages just one aspect of the team, but I truly do not believe that there is a coach in the league who could have done better with this roster.

Sure, there are many who could’ve done as well, I’m not saying Stefanski is a great coach. I’m simply saying this team was a byproduct of media hype (not from us), and that the same people lambasting Stefanski right now are ignoring the fact that Andrew Berry is the one saddling him with the players who aren’t working out.

The Browns are better than 29th, not by much but they are, but to get much better they’re going to need to rethink who is bringing in the talent.