10 Reasons the Cleveland Browns Will Make the Playoffs

In preparation for this article, I sought feedback from the Cleveland Browns fans to get their opinion of why my pick of the Cleveland Browns in the playoff prediction article made sense. Most of the people instead decided to trash the fact that I made a mistake and wrote AFC Central for the division instead of AFC North.

I can see why the Browns fans would have such angst with my lack of knowledge, because the Browns have won numerous AFC North titles. Oh yeah, they never have. Their last division title was 20 years ago, in the AFC Central.

Since the Browns fans were little help, I have had to go this crazy journey alone and justify why I think the Browns will make the playoffs.

The Browns went 4-12 last season, have a new head coach, traded maybe their best offensive player in Kellen Winslow, had another player suspended for the entire season, and had a very suspect defense last year along with an offense that struggled to do anything.

The Browns also appear to be unsure at to who will lead the team at quarterback. Vegas started the Browns at over/under seven victories and they have been bet down, and most experts will have the Browns no higher than third in the division.

I feel crazy even trying to rationalize a winning season, much less a playoff appearance, but I think I can do it by breaking down 10 points that make the Browns a potential breakout team in 2009.

10. New Coach – Eric Mangini isn’t currently viewed as a top tiered coach, but he definitely appears to be an upgrade over Romeo Crennel. The Jets let Mangini go, and really their problems were partially Mangini’s fault, but also the Brett Favre circus derailed any hopes of a playoff appearance last year. Romeo Crennel was a statue on the sidelines, and Mangini will definitely change the energy level on the team.

Last year, all three teams with new head coaches made the playoffs, and, of course, this season that won’t happen since so many teams changed coaches. A few probably will though, and of the teams with six or less wins, Detroit and St. Louis have to see benefits since they were both so bad, and Kansas City and Cleveland should see upgrades because their previous coaches were so mediocre.

9. Clean Slate – Luckily the 2008 season is in the past, and the Browns have nothing to build off of. Most people are predicting bad things for the Browns this year because they were so bad last year. Consider that they scored 29 points against the Bills, and then 31 points in their final six games. The offense is most likely not going to be as bad this year. They have a new head coach and new GM.

They also don’t have to start the season the way they did last year. They were basically penciled in for 0-3, with home games against Dallas and Pittsburgh and a road game versus Baltimore. They aren’t likely to go 1-7 at home this year. The Browns start the season 0-0, and 2008 means nothing, and the Browns took the correct steps in the changes they made to emphasize that point.

8. Getting rid of malcontents – A lot of the criticism of the Browns is about their terrible offense and that they traded away their best offensive player, Kellen Winslow. How can they possibly get better? Simple, the Browns offense was terrible with him. They can’t get worse. However they can get better since he was a major distraction on the team.

There is a lot to say about that strategy, especially in football, for getting rid of a cancer on the team.

The Dolphins perceived Jason Taylor would be one last year, they sent him to Washington, and the vibe of the Dolphins improved. Donte Stallworth got rid of himself, but guaranteeing that he will not be on the team this year helps to remove distractions.

No Kellen Winslow and no Donte Stallworth may take away weapons from Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson, but they weren’t good with them and both guys being absent will help team chemistry.

Yes, I realize the Browns still have Braylon Edwards, and have to hope he will lead a group of young receivers instead of being a distraction. One is better than three.

7. The Browns aren’t the Bengals – Seeing the list of the six or less win teams, the two that stood out to me were the Browns and Bengals. Kansas City and Oakland are very tempting as sleepers because the AFC West should once again be a weak division, but both teams face really challenging schedules otherwise.

Kansas City faces the entire NFC East and San Diego in the first seven weeks and Oakland have no easy road games out of division. The Browns and the Bengals therefore stand out from the list in point 10, and Cleveland has definite advantages over Cincinnati.

The Bengals defense was improving last year, and Carson Palmer is set to play this year, and may tease people into believing they will be a sleeper.

Remember, they are the Bengals. They still have their malcontents, Marvin Lewis is still the head coach, and Mike Brown is still the general manager. The Bengals just signed their first round pick, and have to rely on Chris Henry to be a star receiver this year.

Yeah, the Bengals may get to seven or eight wins because of a similar schedule to the Browns, but Marvin Lewis is really a strong coach at turning victory into loss.

The Browns should finish ahead of the Bengals in the AFC Central (Oh my god, the idiot wrote AFC Central again. He knows nothing about football. So what if he's actually predicting great things for my team, I have to mock this loser for being so dumb.) 

6. Low expectations – Is anyone besides me predicting the Browns to make the playoffs? I’m having a really difficult time finding 10 reasons to say they will make it. The fans just want anything better than the drivel they saw to end last season, and the Browns are on nobody’s radar and the only reason people have any interest in week one is because Brett Favre and Minnesota are playing in Cleveland.

The Browns have a great opportunity during this preseason to develop that sense of us versus the world and underdog mentality that so many athletes tend to feed off of.

5. Added depth – The Browns offseason looked odd at times, because they appeared to give up opportunities to gain talent and instead traded down during the draft and traded away Kellen Winslow. What the Browns did is add a lot of protection against injuries, a very important factor for any team during a long season.

They signed two free agents on the offensive line and acquired Hank Fraley and drafted Alex Mack in hopes of building a group to protect Quinn or Anderson. They drafted two receivers and signed two guys who are very solid as possession receivers.

The trade with the Jets provided a lot of bodies on defense, and players who are very familiar with the style of play Eric Mangini encourages. With so many teams relying on bad backup QB’s, at least Quinn or Anderson can step in and look good if given the opportunity. The Browns have some trouble spots, but are deeper than last year in many areas.

Running back is the one position they appear to really lack depth, yet it’s also the one position where random people come out of nowhere, so a James Davis or Jerome Harrison may be a lot better than anyone knows.

4. Quarterback Play – This is just a hunch, but I think Brady Quinn starts for the Browns, and I think he will have a pretty solid season. The offensive line should perform very well, and Jamal Lewis and whatever changeup back will provide some help, but the success of the team will depend on how the QB does. Brady Quinn doesn’t have to be great; he just has to be smart.

This will be the third year for Quinn, and it should be the first year where he truly understands the pace of the NFL. Braylan Edwards can’t possibly have as bad of a season as last year and should provide a big name target to Quinn while the other receivers take the pressure off Edwards to catch tons of balls.

I know that I’m stretching a bit and this is irrelevant if Anderson wins the starting job, but Quinn just seems ready to take a jump.

3. The New Quarterback Circus to Start the Season – Last year, the Browns had a QB controversy and had to start with two games at home and it was a mess. This year, the crazy QB situations are on the other side the first two weeks.

The Brett Favre fiasco comes to Cleveland in week one, and if ever there is an opportunity to steal the spotlight, they have it.

A three interception game for the Cleveland defense is the perfect remedy to build confidence for the season. Week Two the Browns go to Denver. The Broncos fans must cringe at their team currently.

The Browns will be playing at the debut of Josh McDaniels and Kyle Orton in Denver, and if the Broncos don’t play well in Cincinnati, the Denver fans will turn bad quickly. The Browns will have the perfect opportunity to start the season against opponents with plenty of flaws and QB’s who make plenty of mistakes.

2. History – Someone has to be the surprise team. In seven of the last 10 seasons, there have been at least three teams that have had six or fewer wins in the previous season and then made the playoffs the next year. Last year, Miami, Baltimore and Atlanta all fit that category.

One factor against the three teams from last year, those six wins or less teams are then 8-17 in making the playoffs the next year, meaning probably two of the Miami, Baltimore and Atlanta group will not return to the playoffs this year. Only nine teams last year had 6 wins or less in the NFL.

Seattle, Jacksonville and Green Bay are recent playoff teams looking to rebound and look to be the most likely candidates, but there is a stat that provides opportunity for the other teams. In eight of the last 10 years, at least one of the six wins or less teams had not made the playoffs in any of the previous three seasons.

Miami and Atlanta were in this category last year, providing hope to what seem to be the six cellar dwellers in the NFL. Detroit and St. Louis have long roads to respectability. The only teams left are Cincinnati, Oakland, Kansas City and Cleveland. One of these four teams has a good shot to make the playoffs, as hard as that may be to believe.

1. The Schedule – I’m realistic, I had to pull a lot of the 10 reasons out of my behind, and throw out a hypothetical. The Browns schedule is the best reason why they have a legitimate shot to make the playoffs. Yes, four games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh will be challenging, but the rest of the schedule is a blessing for a rebuilding team.

Although four of the first six games are on the road, they get their Baltimore and Pittsburgh road games out of the way early, and Denver and Buffalo on the road aren’t that difficult (A 4-12 Browns team won in Buffalo last year).

After that six-game stretch, their most difficult games are all at home. For a team that went 1-7 at home last year that’s not a really good thing, but they will definitely be better at home this year. The Browns' final four road games are at Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati and Kansas City. Four of their last five games are at home.

The Browns can start the season 2-4 and still have a pretty interesting road to the playoffs. If they can get to 8-6, they get Oakland and Jacksonville the last second weeks.

The Baltimore and Pittsburgh games are both at night, and last year showed that the Browns at night morph into a completely different team. Baltimore is after a bye week. The Browns can definitely get on a roll in the second half of the season because of the schedule.

Will Cleveland make the playoffs? I'm not sure, but with so many AFC teams in a state of mediocrity (Denver, Kansas City, Oakland, Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Buffalo and maybe the Jets), six teams will make it from the AFC, and even if the Browns can't win the North, they should be improved and if they get a break.