Through A Rival to the Playoffs
Josh Thornton
The year was 1989. The Browns were battling the Houston Oilers for supremacy in the then AFC Central. The final week of that season had everything at stake for those Bernie Kosar led Browns… a division title, a wild card berth or… nothing. The team came out playing like there was no tomorrow. Kosar hit two big touchdowns, one to Metcalf and one to Slaughter. The Browns pulled out to a 17-0 lead and looked like they were going to easily put their division foes away. That is until Warren Moon and the oilers caught a little fire of their own. Charging back, Houston took the lead 20-17 with 5 minutes left to play in regulation. Backs against the wall, the Browns drove all the way down to the 4 yard line with time ticking away. A field goal would force overtime, but a touchdown would all but secure the victory and the division title. With 39 seconds left to play, Kevin Mack delivered with a 4 yard touchdown. The Browns were in the playoffs! It’s a good thing they won too. They would have needed help from other teams if they lost in order to see post-season play. The help wouldn’t have come. With a loss here, that 1989 team would have been edged out by the Chiefs.
That was a fun trip down memory lane, right? Yeah… the good ole days! You may be asking why I bring up old playoff clinching glories. Well, I see a fair amount of parallels with the 1989 Browns and our 2020 Browns. 1989 was the last time the Browns entered the final week of the season under a “win and in” scenario against a division rival, exactly as we sit now. Of course, this season is without the chance for the division crown. 1989 saw a Browns team that made games interesting. They took games down to the wire and played exciting football. The defense had shown up at times and won games for that squad and yes, they laid a few eggs in 1989 as well… including a 21-0 shutout provided by the Bengals. All of these examples can be likened to this 2020 season. Even though we don’t have a shot at the division on Sunday, we can clinch a spot in the playoffs, and like those 1989 Browns, it will need to be done against a division rival.
Win and in against the division rival Steelers on the last week of the regular season. Can you write this any better?!?! I know, we all would have loved to clinch our seat last week against the hapless Jets. Obviously, we did not get it done, so here we sit. A spot we all would have signed up for before this weird, COVID stricken season began. With this game approaching rapidly only one question really remains… can this young Browns squad get it done? Can the 18 year playoff drought be boxed up and filed away in the broom closet of history? My answer is a confident resounding yes!
Although a few stumbles came along the way, this Browns team has been the most fun to watch in recent memory. Kevin Stefanski has calmed a turbulent franchise and Baker Mayfield is growing into what we all thought he could be. We can run the ball as good as anyone with our dynamic backfield duo. Our defense… well, it needs some work, but with players like Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward you have a chance for game changing plays. There is one aspect that sits atop my list of reasons to be confident in this team. Talent and ability aside, these players believe in what they are doing. They believe in their coaches. They believe in each other… and it shows.
This season has been one that has toppled countless walls that have loomed over this organization. I’m confident another will fall on Sunday.
Our path to the playoffs runs through a division rival.
Bring that shit on.
Go Browns!
