CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns handled their business against inferior competition and as a result they enter the month of December leading the AFC Wild Card race at 8-3.
Cleveland is a perfect 7-0 against teams below .500 in 2020 but are 1-3 against those with winning records.
Up next: the 8-3, No. 3 seeded and AFC South leading Tennessee Titans.
A win in Tennessee Sunday would be eye opening for the league and a confidence booster within the locker room.
“I think it will help us out a lot. Confidence is major. Once we get rolling, then we will get rolling,” receiver KhaDarel Hodge said Monday. “I do not look at the Titans as a super team – they can get beat like anybody else. We go into this game expecting to win and we are expecting to do our thing.”
To Hodge’s point, they came dangerously close to self-destructing in Sunday’s 27-25 win but found a way to hang on for the win.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield missed easy throws – would-be TDs to a wide open Rashard Higgins and then a misfire two plays later to Jarvis Landry. He also missed Kareem Hunt, who was open on a third-an-1 conversion late in the fourth quarter.
Mayfield also made multiple brilliant throws in winning his 20th game as the Browns starting quarterback.
Multiple players said after Sunday’s game that their best football is ahead of them.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski agreed Monday.
“That is the idea here to be ascending in the second half of this season,” Stefanski said. “I mentioned December football. That is when you really do want to start playing your best football. We have to put a game together and a series of games together where our offense, our defense and our special teams all play at a high level.”
Overall, Cleveland has a -21-point differential this season but that is skewed by 38-6 and 38-7 blowout losses to the Ravens and Steelers.
Despite the team holding its best record in 26 years, skeptics are aplenty.
Hodge believes they have what it takes to prove them all wrong and shock the world.
“I see this team going deep into playoffs, as far as we can go,” Hodge said. “No one can stop us but us. That is how we look at it. That is how we are going to keep looking at it. As long as we play our game, we can beat anybody.”
Although the Browns appear on track to break the longest playoff drought in the league, nothing is guaranteed, and the Titans will be their first true test for them since falling 16-6 to the Raiders in Week 8.
“It is a great feeling,” right guard Wyatt Teller said. “As a young player, I have not experienced a lot of success, and it is really cool to see 8-3 in the City of Cleveland. We are playing well. See if we can keep on playing well and play up to our competition and win some games down the road.”
Keeping the Faith – Stefanski wasn’t deterred by tight end Harrison Bryant’s second fumble of the season Sunday against the Jaguars, which came on the first play of the second half.
“The two fumbles [this season] are all technique,” Stefanski explained. “He is a young player, and we need him to continue to get better and understand that. I do not foresee that being an issue going forward because he is going to work real hard at it.
“He has made plays for us this season. He has made plays for us in practice. We have a ton of faith in him, and he is going to continue to make plays for us is the way I look at it. He is a kid that works very, very hard so I anticipate that he will bounce back.”
Celebration Work – Hodge broke out the air guitar three times Sunday in Jacksonville after converting a pair of third downs and a fourth down against the Jaguars.
“It was just something I just came up with playing around with my brothers at the crib,” Hodge said. “They were asking me what I was going to do if I got a catch and a first down, and that was the first thing I thought of and I just stuck with it.”
Not the worst choice by Hodge considering he plays in the Rock and Roll capitol of the world.
Roster Moves – Browns activated fullback Andy Janovich from the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Janovich has appeared in nine games this season and has helped pave the way for the Browns rushing attack that leads the NFL with an average of 161.4 yards per game. He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Nov. 16.
The team also claimed safety Tedric Thompson off waivers from Kansas City. Thompson is in his fourth NFL season out of Colorado. Originally signed by Seattle as an undrafted free agent in 2017, Thompson has appeared in 37 games with 16 starts with the Seahawks.
Schedule Game – The NFL announced a Week 16 triple header on Saturday, but the Browns at Jets game was not included meaning the two teams will square off on Sunday Dec. 27 at MetLife Stadium.
Injury Report – Results on the MRI of safety Harrison Bryant’s shoulder are pending according to Stefanski. Denzel Ward is “unlikely this week” according to Stefanski and is “week-to-week.” Sheldrick Redwine is day-to-day” with his knee injury.
