With their 27-25 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, the Cleveland Browns improved their record to 8-3.
That means that for the first time since 2007, the Browns are guaranteed to finish the year with a non-losing record.
A trivial distinction? Perhaps. But for a franchise that has endured as much losing as Cleveland has, the end of a 12-year run of losing seasons is noteworthy nonetheless.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, however, wasn't ready to celebrate the significance of his team's latest victory, pointing instead to his week-to-week mindset.
"We're just trying to go 1-0 each week," Stefanski said in his postgame press conference. "We get to eight [wins] and we have a bunch more games to go. We're really not concerned with the past.
That may be the case/ Still, it'd be tough to blame any Browns fan for taking a look at the NFL standings and feeling good about Cleveland's chance of making the playoffs for the first time since the 2002 season.
Coupling the Browns' win with losses by the Las Vegas Raiders and Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Cleveland improved its standing in an AFC Wild Card race that looked too crowded for comfort just two weeks ago. As of Sunday, the Browns are currently slotted for the AFC's first of three Wild Card spots.
As Stefanski alluded to, there's still plenty of season ahead, starting with a key two-game stretch against a pair of fellow AFC contenders in the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens. But even if their head coach is only willing to look week-to-week, it's not hard to see that this season has the potential to be something special.
"We still haven't played our best ball yet and I truly believe that," quarterback Baker Mayfield said. "But I feel like we're improving at the right time. And so for us to continue to improve and find ways to win at this point in the year, I think is the most important thing."