The Significance Of Cleveland’s Current Moment
Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
To say the Cleveland Browns organization has been snakebitten would be the understatement of the century. Very few fan bases can hold their struggle and misery up next to that of Brown’s fans. For generations it has consistently felt like if something can go wrong in Cleveland, it will.
But Sundays win in Baltimore had all the makings of a watershed moment in Cleveland Browns history. The things that always go wrong, suddenly went right. And more importantly, they went right against a divisional foe and one of the best teams in the NFL.
It’s hard, going back through Browns history, to find a better and more potentially meaningful regular season win.
The win over the Steelers to clinch a playoff berth perhaps? But Pittsburgh was resting players. Maybe the December 1988 snow game that saw Don Strock throwing to Webster Slaughter as Cleveland clinched a playoff berth? Hell, the September 2018 game where Baker Mayfield came in for Tyrod Taylor and gave the team their first win in nearly 2 years on prime-time television and gave everybody else free Bud Light has to be in the running.
But none of these came with the potential that Sunday’s victory does. In a crowded and parity ridden AFC this team has every reason, given the big victory, to believe contender status is still within reach.
And not only did the last minute, dramatic win put Cleveland back on track and the AFC North title squarely back in contention, but more importantly, the team’s biggest question mark played a crucial role in the comeback.
DeSean Watson was 14-14 for 134 yards, a touchdown and 16 rushing yards the second half as he and Kevin Stefanski looked squarely in sync during the come back.
@deshaunwatson flawless second half 🔥🐐 pic.twitter.com/ZTaAXYW3ei
— Mr WATSON (@ChillDW4) November 13, 2023
As this team was assembled in the off-season, we all knew it could potentially be something special. It just had the feeling of a cake being iced as opposed to simply building a team. But it all hung on the offense and the QB and his ability to thrive in the system. If Deshaun Watson could just find some version of his old form, and he and Kevin Stefanski could get on the same page, the sky was truly the limit.
But then, like it often has in Browns history, the team just couldn’t catch a break. Nick Chubb goes down. Deshaun Watson is hurt. The DTR disaster. The Seattle flop. Rumors flying about Stefanski and Watson’s relationship. It felt like another classic Cleveland year.
But perhaps Sunday officially put this team back on their original course. Maybe Watson’s second half will finally bring consistency to his game? Maybe Kevin Stefanski’s emotion in the locker room afterwards is an indicator of a cohesiveness that is starting to build. Perhaps, despite all the torturous history in Cleveland, Sunday in Baltimore, was the moment that the timeline shifted. Perhaps in a league that is currently filled with parity, the Browns offense has found themselves rounding into form when it matters the most.
If that’s the case, the Baltimore win has potential to truly top the list of historical team moments because waiting on the other side of the ball is a monster.
Adding Jim Schwartz, Za’Darius Smith, and Dalvin Tomlinson to the defense has been transformational. The thought that the high-level help could elevate Myles Garrett to finally winning DPOY is turning out to be more than true. Garrett is not just succeeding, he’s thriving at a level that even his biggest supporters couldn’t have possibly imagined. He is currently the leagues pre-imminent game wrecker at any position.
As fans and media we often tend to get too high after wins and too low after losses. But, although that may be a bad thing on the field when you need players to have short memories, is it what makes being a sports fan truly great. Enjoy the good times when they’re here. Next week this team might be wallowing in misery after a let down against the Steelers. But for right now, let’s choose to believe. Let’s believe that this team is finally becoming who we thought they could be. Let’s believe that this Ravens win was the win the organization has been waiting for for decades.
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