CLEVELAND — That was a sobering game to watch on Sunday between the Browns and Steelers at Heinz Field. Because as well as Kevin Stefanski's team had played over their past four games, you could tell pretty quickly that they simply are not in Pittsburgh's class. At least not yet.
If you watched Donovan & Dino last week, the one major point to take away from our Steelers preview was that the Browns could not turn the ball over and expect to win. Pittsburgh is too good, too opportunistic, and too experienced. So what happens? Baker Mayfield throws an ill-advised pass on 3rd down during the Browns' first possession and the Steelers return it for a pick 6 touchdown. Boom! You're down 10-0 and that 'woe is us' factor starts to creep in. After all, the Browns haven't won in Pittsburgh since 2003.
Your final score: Steelers 38, Browns 7
So putting aside what happened in Pittsburgh (and in Baltimore earlier this season) for a moment, the Browns are still 4-2 through their first six games. Per ESPN's Jake Trotter, the Browns have the easiest remaining schedule in the NFL.
So as bad as things looked on Sunday, there does exist every possibility that your Cleveland Browns may make their first playoff appearance since 2002 this season. How great of an accomplishment would that be? Remember that starting this season, the NFL is adding an extra playoff team in each conference so the Browns can finish 3rd in the AFC North, but still make the playoffs as a Wild Card.
That leads us into Monday's edition of Donovan & Dino as I was joined once again by the "Voice of the Browns," Jim Donovan. In addition to Sunday's loss and the question of the Browns as a potential playoff team, here's what we discussed on the show:
- Is it a problem that Baker Mayfield is still making rookie-type mistakes?
- The Browns really do miss Nick Chubb
- Is the David Njoku soap opera coming to an end?
- Browns defense may get reinforcements for Bengals game on Sunday
- Did Kevin Stefanski handle sitting Baker Mayfield the right way?
Check out more of what Jimmy had to say in the aftermath of Sunday's game in his "Jimmy's Take" here.
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