The Cleveland Browns are the first team in 35 years to be over .500 this late in the season while starting four different quarterbacks. What could’ve been a lost year due to the disastrous injuries the team has suffered instead might be the best the city has seen since the team’s return in 1999.
Improbably, all four of those starting quarterbacks have won, and the Cleveland Browns are now 8-5 and in sole possession of second place in the AFC North. This after defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-27 Sunday in Cleveland.
How Are the Cleveland Browns Managing to Win?
The easy answer is to say the defense is leading the charge, and that is reasonably accurate after a fashion. The defense remains the best in the league and is putting up historic numbers. Led by potential Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, the defense is aggressive and plays every down with swagger. This swagger has bled through to the rest of the Cleveland Browns, giving the team an attitude it has never had before.
But, with most things, the full answer is more complicated. First of all, the defense has been terrible on the road, allowing over 30 points a game. That was more than three times the score it allowed at home entering this week. While the key injuries had been limited to the offense for most of the season, the bug is now biting the other side of the ball. Garrett has been mostly a non-factor the last two weeks, recording a single tackle for loss in December. This is likely due to a shoulder injury he sustained against the Denver Broncos, and will continue to nag him for the remainder of the season. Top corner Denzel Ward has been out for weeks. Safety Juan Thornhill has played sporadically. Now, safety Grant Delpit will likely miss some time after a scary-looking injury against the Jaguars.
Joe Flacco is the Cleveland Browns Starter for the Remainder of the Season
In his post-game press conference Sunday, head coach Kevin Stefanski named Joe Flacco his starting quarterback for the remainder of the season. With quarter-billion-dollar franchise signal-caller Deshaun Watson on IR, that was an easy move. Flacco, who joined the team just three weeks ago, has been great for the Cleveland Browns thus far. Against the Jaguars on Sunday, Flacco put on an aerial show, passing for 311 yards and three scores. This came after he put up two touchdowns and 254 yards in last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Moreover, Flacco has brought a calm to the offensive side of the ball it hasn’t seen all year. Though he’s made two terrible interceptions in as many weeks, it’s clear he’s picking up the offense quickly. He’s also gelling well with Stefanski’s offense and spreading the ball around well. Last week, he completed passes to nine different receivers. This week it was eight, but he also got Cleveland’s big-name targets involved from the get-go. Tight End David Njoku had a monster day with six catches, 91 yards, and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Amari Cooper hauled in seven passes. Jerome Ford caught five and seems more involved in the passing game than in previous weeks.
With the Cleveland Browns scraping the bottom of the barrel in their offensive tackle ranks – they were missing their top three OTs on Sunday – Flacco showed enough mobility to hold the Jaguars to a single sack.
Kareem Hunt Will Not Be Denied in Short Yardage
There’s no question that the Cleveland Browns were right in their offseason analysis that running back Kareem Hunt has lost a step. The 28-year-old back is averaging a career-low 3.3 yards per carry against his career mark of 4.4. He shows little burst and can no longer get to the outside. He’s also a virtual non-factor in the passing game, despite having been the Browns third-down back for years.
Where Browns General Manager Andrew Berry and Stefanski went wrong was not realizing what Hunt is now very good at: Short yardage. Brought back to the team after Nick Chubb’s devastating injury, Hunt is a breath of fresh air every time he takes the field. He runs with abandon, plowing into or leaping over defenders. He’s a near-lock in short-yardage situations as well. Against the Jaguars, Hunt took a direct snap in for his sixth touchdown of the season. Later, he converted a key fourth and one against the stout Jaguars offensive line, running behind a third-string offensive tackle to get there.
Down the Stretch They Come!
13 games down, and the Cleveland Browns are 8-5. They sit two games behind the Baltimore Ravens with four to play. They’ve split the head-to-head series, so even if the Browns could pick up two in four weeks, other tiebreakers could still keep them out. Winning the division is still possible but unlikely.
Moreover, the Browns have two very strange statistics they have to overcome if they want to (a) make the playoffs and (b) make a RUN in the playoffs. First, for as good as the defense has been overall, it’s generally terrible on the road. They’ve allowed more than 30 points a game. After the injury to quarterback Joe Burrow, that Cincinnati Bengals game on the road in Week 18 looked like a gimme. But the Bengals have won big in two consecutive weeks with Jake Browning under center. They now stand 7-6, just a game behind the Browns.
More interestingly, the Cleveland Browns are now 8-1 when they play games at 1 pm ET, and 0-4 when they play at any other time. Combine the two, and that bodes well for the team next week against the Chicago Bears. That game is at home and at 1 pm ET. However, that’s the last home 1 pm ET game the team has in 2023.
The Browns will need to overcome at least one of those odd statistics with victories in Houston, on Thursday night against the Jets, or in Cincinnati.
Main Photo: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
