While the rest of the AFC North spends the weekend getting beat up, the Cleveland Browns are enjoying their bye week while gearing up for what have unexpectedly turned into an important final seven games of the season.
The Browns find themselves at 4-5 and just on the outside of the final playoff position in the AFC. While a 4-5 record is generally not something that should get fans overly excited, it’s different with this year’s Browns team.
While the record may not currently reflect it, the Browns seem better than a 4-5 team, especially when you consider how bad their offensive numbers are. Heading into this weekend’s games, the Browns are:
- 26th overall on offense;
- 26th in points per game;
- 30th in yards per play; and,
- 29th in third-down conversions.
Oh, and each of the three quarterbacks on the roster have started at least two games this season. And that fact goes a long way toward explaining a large part of the offensive struggles.
INT. CAR – DAY
A week after Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton proclaimed that the defense had turned a corner, it appears that he may be right.
There's no way, a day after snapping one of the more embarrassing losing streaks in franchise history, to definitively say if the Cleveland Browns are a franchise on the rise. But after dominating the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, 24-18, there's at least enough reason to believe that this might be the case.
The Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, 24-18, the Browns first win over the Ravens in 12 tries.