CLEVELAND, OH — With the Seattle Seahawks coming into town and little time to pick up what remaining pieces are left of their psyche following a embarrassing 31-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, there may be light at the end of the tunnel for the Cleveland Browns.
With 11 games left in the season, and what appears to be the last of a brutal gauntlet of an early schedule that has the aforementioned Seahawks, New England Patriots (6-0), Denver Broncos (1-4) and the Buffalo Bills (4-1), who all have a combined record of 15-6 (.714), Cleveland has a much more favorable schedule that could serve as a springboard for a late-season playoff push.
With games against AFC North rivals in the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-4) and the winless Cincinnati Bengals (0-5) twice, a game vs. the division-leading Baltimore Ravens, whom they have already beaten on the road and hold the head-to-head tie-breaker over, the winless Miami Dolphins (0-4) on Thanksgiving Day at home and the Arizona Cardinals (1-3-1) boast a combined record of 5-18-1 for a winning percentage of .217
If the Browns can somehow beat the Seahawks and steal one in Denver—which is always a tough place to place due to both the Mile High altitude and that bad John Elway juju–Cleveland should be in good shape vs a very tough and underrated Bills squad at home.
At best, the Browns can hope to be 4-4 before the Bills game, which would put them in a good spot to go above .500 and hit the soft portion of their remaining schedule.
While all is not lost, it is up to the Browns to take advantage of a golden opportunity to close out a season strong for the first time in recent memory, and make some real noise heading into the regular-season finale vs. the Ravens at home, in what may decide both a playoff berth and the AFC North.
Despite what the Cleveland-hating national media and analysts like to spin, but the Browns are not down, dead or done, but are about to barking loud, as it is never smart to leave a sleeping dog for dead.