The Browns Season From Heck Ends With An Unnecessary Win To Move Down In The Draft
Are you kidding me? What a cherry on top to the worst Browns season since they returned to Cleveland in 1999. And yes, I mean that. I know we went 0-16 just 5 years ago....and 1-15 the year before that. But everyone knew the Browns were going to stink those years. This year? Guys, we were talking SUPER BOWL. And before you say "only you were talking Super Bowl". No, that's not true. Everyone was.
Yeah, he's talking about the Browns and the 2x defending AFC Champions being neck and neck heading into the season.
Fast forward 18 weeks and the Chiefs are 12-5, the 2-seed, and probably the favorite to get back to the Super Bowl, meanwhile the Browns are already checking their bags at the airport to leave for Cancun. But it's not just that. It's the fact that we couldn't win a game if our life depended on it down the stretch, but then when it would be more advantageous to lose, we come on out and knock off the AFC North champs. I know Burrow didn't play and I know Chase left like 2 seconds into the game once he got his yards, but still, the Bengals weren't trying to lose. They were just playing their second string. The Browns should've been in full on tank mode.
Going into this week the Browns had the 12th pick in the draft. I don't know what a loss would've moved us up to, but if this win costs us Garrett Wilson or Jameson Williams, I will be very upset. This was without question the most meaningless football game in NFL history, and we played to win. Started the QB that we probably should’ve started for the last 14 weeks, and guess what, put up a 102 rating that Baker hasn’t even sniffed since November 7th. Four times since then, he was in the 50s. And he was never over 100. Yikes he was bad down the stretch.
With that being said, one positive I really did like to see today was that Baker Mayfield still showed up.
No one has ever questioned his toughness or his leadership. He could've packed his stuff and been in LA right now, waiting for his surgery. But he came out today in the cold for his teammates and for his fans. Joe Burrow wasn't at the game today and they still have football to play, but Baker Mayfield was there when he's done until next September. That means something.
I really am rooting for this guy. I hope it was all his labrum that he tore in Week 2. And I'm glad the Browns are giving him a chance next year. But he needs to make a big time turnaround, because this season was an absolute disaster. And it fell squarely on the shoulders of the fact that we didn't have a competent QB.