Is Josh Gordon Enough to Keep Browns' Playoff Dreams Alive?

It's finally here, the moment the Cleveland Browns have been waiting for: the return of wide receiver Josh Gordon, who is finally done with his 10-game suspension.

It couldn't have come at a better time.

The Browns are coming off of a disappointing 23-7 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday but still possess a winning record at 6-4. They are in a three-way tie for the second-place spot in the AFC North and are one win (and a Cincinnati Bengals loss) away from being at the top of the division, a place they just fell from with the recent loss.

As Gordon said himself via Twitter on Sunday, "Well, let's see if we can get the ball rolling next week." Not coincidentally, that will mark his first game back, at the Atlanta Falcons.

Gordon's reputation precedes him. There are the off-field concerns, which seem to be behind him if his incident-free past 10 weeks are any indication. Then there is what he is capable of on the field.

In 2013, Gordon rebounded from a two-game suspension to be the NFL's leading receiver. He had 87 receptions on 159 targets for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns. He averaged 18.9 yards per reception and 117.6 yards per game. He accomplished this impressive feat while being thrown to by three different quarterbacks.

Targets	Receptions	Rec. %	Yards	YPR	TD	YPG	YAC
159	87	54.7%	1,646	18.9	9	117.6	637

The Browns were forced to get creative at the receiver position in Gordon's absence, and it hasn't been a total failure. Players like Andrew Hawkins, Miles Austin and Taylor Gabriel have stepped up for an erratic Brian Hoyer and have helped lead them to their six wins thus far.

That may be the reason behind Browns general manager Ray Farmer's comments earlier in November about not handing starting duties to Gordon immediately upon his return. Farmer, speaking to Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer and the assembled media, was adamant that the Browns would not alter their offense to accommodate Gordon:

"

Do you disrupt what you do offensively just to make sure that you throw the ball to Josh Gordon? I don't know if that's really the right way to operate. Is he a phenomenal talent? Sure I'd tell you that he is a talented young man and he can do a lot of good things. 

But do you kind of disrupt what you are to just make sure that one person gets the ball? I think that teams win. Talent doesn't. It's really about building a team and people have to find a way to fit into the team and I think that's what we're looking for here is a championship-level team.

"

Gordon's return could spark the Browns into realizing their full playoff potential. At 6-4, Cleveland is most certainly still contending for a wild-card postseason berth, and possibly even a divisional title. 

However, it is clear that Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine may be reticent to hand a starting job to a player who has not been practicing with the team.

Pettine, via ESPN's Pat McManamon, said of Gordon, "This is a player that's missed ... it's probably around 75 to 80 days and 10 games and a preseason game. It's a significant amount of time not having contact and being apart. I just don't know if you walk back in and are able to be functional."

But adding the playmaking ability of Gordon will bring a dangerous dimension to the Browns offense. And offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is far more giddy about Gordon's return. Shanahan spoke to Cabot last week, somewhat tipping his team's hand about Gordon's usage Sunday against the Falcons while still echoing Pettine's caution.

"I can't wait to get [Gordon] back," Shanahan said. "…I haven't seen him out on the football field since training camp, so we'll have to see where he's at physically and everything. We'll try to get him in there, and as soon as he's ready to go, we'll make sure to work to get him the ball."

Granted that Gordon has been keeping in shape—which the Browns seem confident about, though they weren't allowed to watch him work out or train, as per the rules of his suspension—he should get significant playing time in his first game back. And he should be a true starter—if not Sunday, then in Week 13.

Gordon will give the Browns a boost in their final six games, especially with all but one of their remaining opponents ranking 20th or worse in average passing yards allowed per game.

Week	Team	Pass YPG Allowed	Rank
12	@ ATL	281.2	32nd
13	@ BUF	222.6	7th
14	vs. IND	262.9	27th
15	vs. CIN	249.5	20th
16	@ CAR	254.9	23rd
17	@ BAL	251.2	21st

Despite his erratic accuracy, Hoyer is the sixth-ranked deep-passing quarterback this year, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and is tied for the fourth-most attempts of 20 or more yards. With Gordon averaging nearly 19 yards per reception last year, it's not hard to connect the dots to how his return will help Hoyer and, in turn, the Browns offense.

Anything that will make the Browns offense better will make Cleveland, as a team, better. And a better team is a team more capable of winning. And more wins for the Browns means the odds of a postseason berth are greater. 

There's no reason to believe that Gordon's return won't make the Browns a better team. He's one of the league's best receivers and his 10-game suspension does nothing to change that fact. Gordon certainly gives the Browns an edge over their AFC North rivals and should help separate the Browns in the division's current logjam.

One receiver cannot carry a team. The Browns don't need Gordon to carry them—they've done just fine without him thus far. But one receiver, especially one of Gordon's caliber, can push a team over the edge of "good" to "playoff contender."

As long as Gordon is healthy and ready to go, the Browns' season looks like it's about to get very interesting at a very crucial time of the year.