BEREA, Ohio — Former NFL coach Jim Mora famously was asked after a loss if his Colts team could still make the playoffs. His answer became a famous meme.
“’Playoffs? Don’t talk about—playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs?! I just hope we can win a game! Another game!”
Don’t look now, but the Browns are 4-2 (2-0 AFC North). Despite not playing well on offense on a regular, consistent basis, the offense has been able to score when needed, to get wins in four, fourth quarter games.
No matter how they got to 4-2, their record is what it is and it has put them in position to do some things that were not imagined by most before the season started. The Browns have not been in first place in the division this late in the season, since the 2014 season, when they were 6-3 after nine games.
Unfortunately that season, the Browns went 1-6 the rest of the way that season, finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs.
Currently, the Browns would make the playoffs as the division winner, due to tiebreakers. They would be the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and host a first-round game.
The only two teams in the AFC with better records than the Browns are the Chiefs (5-0) and the Bills (5-1). The Jaguars lead their division at 4-2, while the Patriots, Broncos, Steelers and Ravens are all 4-2.
We thought the Browns would win between five and nine games, if everything went right for them. We picked them to be 6-11. To get to nine wins, they had to have average to above average quarterback play—and to this point, they have.
With 11 games to play, the Browns could play below .500 the rest of the way and still have a winning record. A 5-6 record in the final 11 games gets the Browns to 9-8. To put that into perspective, the Browns have only had four winning seasons since the team returned in 1999: 2002 (9-7), 2007 (10-6), 2020 (11-5) and 2023 (11-6). They've made the playoffs three times, 2002, 2020 and 2023, all three as a wild card team. The Browns have never won the AFC North. The last time they won their division was in 1989, when it was the AFC Central.
When told the betting odds before the season had the Browns winning 5 1/2 games, owner Jimmy Haslam said he would take the ‘over’ during training camp.
If the Browns go 6-5 the rest of the way, they would finish 10-7, likely being in the mix for a playoff spot, either as the winner of the AFC North or as a wild card team.
Currently, six AFC teams are 2-4 or worse, leaving 10 of the remaining 16 teams in the AFC in contention. Seven teams make the playoffs, including four division winners and three wild card teams.
According to The Providence Journal, NFL teams that start a season 2-4 manage to make the playoffs, only 9-19 percent of the time.
The long-term historical rate (since 1990) found that of the 205 NFL teams that started 2-4, only 9.3 percent of those teams made the playoffs.
The recent trend, since playoffs were expanded to seven teams in both conferences in 2020, the success has been higher. About 19 percent of teams that started the season 2-4 made the playoffs. The most recent team to start 2-4 and make the playoffs was the Titans in 2019, who started 2-4 and finished with a 9-7 record.
Of the 16 AFC teams, six have records of 2-4 or worse. Although teams have turned it around before after a 2-4 start, the odds are only 9-19 percent of making the playoffs, likely leaving 10 teams fighting for seven playoff spots.
With that said, here are the records of the teams the Browns have on their schedule the rest of the way and their current records.
@ Titans (1-5)
@ Steelers (4-2)
@ Saints (2-4)
Texans (2-4)
Raiders (3-3)
Bengals (3-2)
Falcons (2-4)
@ Giants (3-2-1)
@ Ravens (4-2)
Colts (2-4)
@ Bengals (3-2)
Only five of the games are against teams, currently with a winning record. Four of those five games are in the AFC North. The only teams on the schedule with a winning record that is not in the AFC North is the Giants, who are currently 3-2-1.
The overall record for the teams the Browns play the rest of the way is 29-34-1 for a winning percentage of .461.
According to the website, Tankathon.com, the Browns have the fifth-easiest schedule remaining in the NFL.
Eleven games is a long way to go in the NFL and things can go sideways quickly, as Browns fans know so well, but there is hope for the Browns and the journey continues on Sunday against the 1-5 Titans.