For the first time in a while, Browns fans have something a little more pleasant to do than brace for the next blowout: look at the playoff picture and wonder where Cleveland fits.
That feels almost absurd after Week 1, when the season looked like it might be headed off the rails before it really got started. But after two straight wins over NFC South opponents, the Browns are sitting at 2-1, and suddenly the conversation around their postseason position is no longer a fantasy exercise.
The AFC race is crowded early, and the margins are already tight. Nine teams have at least two wins, while three more have just one.
Four AFC teams are still winless, including the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans. In the middle of all that, Cleveland has climbed into the mix and, for now, sits third in the AFC North behind tiebreakers.
All four teams in the division are 2-1, which makes the early-season math especially interesting for Cleveland. The current AFC order looks like this:
Kansas City Chiefs: 3-0
Buffalo Bills: 3-0
Jacksonville Jaguars: 2-1
Pittsburgh Steelers: 2-1
Las Vegas Raiders: 3-0
Baltimore Ravens: 2-1
Denver Broncos: 2-1
Cleveland Browns: 2-1
Cincinnati Bengals: 2-1
New York Jets: 1-2
New England Patriots: 1-2
Indianapolis Colts: 1-2
Tennessee Titans: 0-3
Miami Dolphins: 0-3
Los Angeles Chargers: 0-3
Houston Texans: 0-3
For now, the Browns are in the pack rather than out in front of it, and that means the usual sorting tools are already starting to matter. As the season moves along, the first tiebreakers tend to do the heavy lifting: head-to-head results and conference winning percentage for wild-card positioning, or division record when the race is about the AFC North crown.
With Pittsburgh coming to town for Thursday Night Football, Cleveland gets another chance to sharpen its place in that race. And after where this team was just two weeks ago, that alone is a notable shift.
In Other News...
Pat Freiermuth Just Reopened An Ugly Browns Fan Reputation
Pat Freiermuth brought an old scar back into view this week when he revisited a rookie-season memory that stuck with him far beyond the final whistle. Ahead of the Steelers upcoming game against the Browns, the tight end described the scene around his game-winning touchdown in Cleveland, a moment that should have been about the play itself but instead turned into something far uglier in the stands.
Freiermuth said his mother was the one caught in the middle of it, and the memory has been enough to change her routine when the Steelers head to Cleveland. Even so, he made clear there are no lingering hard feelings, just a reminder of how quickly a night in the AFC North can turn personal and why certain road games still carry an edge no scoreboard can erase. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Keep Winning But One Problem Is Starting To Look Dangerous
The Browns have done enough through three games to sit at 2-1, but the way they have gotten there has left a growing concern hanging over an otherwise encouraging start. Cleveland has been flagged 34 times already, the second-highest total in the NFL, and the issue has become hard to ignore even as head coach Todd Monken and his staff continue to stress the need to clean it up.
The bigger worry is that the problem has not settled down, even with key players drawing repeated flags, including right tackle Tytus Howard. The Browns have been able to survive it by winning tight games and leaning on late scoring drives from Deshaun Watson, but the margin for error shrinks quickly when a team keeps putting itself behind the chains and giving away yards it cannot afford to lose. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Rookie Is Pushing Veterans In A Troubling Position Battle
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren arrived in Cleveland as a second-round pick with the usual rookie expectations, but his first three weeks have started to look more like a challenge to the veterans in front of him than a slow apprenticeship. His defensive snaps have been limited so far, yet when he has been on the field, he has made the most of it and drawn strong grades from PFF relative to other Browns defenders.
That kind of early efficiency can change a depth chart quickly, especially for a team trying to sort out its safety mix and steady itself against the run. Cleveland has reason to consider expanding McNeil-Warrens role if the current personnel at the position keeps leaving openings, and the next stretch could show whether the rookie is merely earning more trust or forcing a tougher conversation about who should be playing more. [Read more 🡒]