Browns Sixth in Power Rankings

With the kind of offseason that the Browns have had, it seems as if someone should pinch all of the team’s fans to make sure they are not dreaming.  How else does one explain the Browns landing at number six in the Yahoo! Sports Power Rankings?  Heading into last season, Cleveland was a perennial cellar dweller and a top contender for biggest laughingstock of the league.  And all of a sudden, only five teams theoretically separate the Browns from the top?  No matter what, it has been an unbelievable turnaround.

For once, the national media is giving the team some much-deserved respect, which also translates into a sense of pride and anticipation for the team’s 2008-09 season.  However, the NFL is a fickle, unforgiving beast and it is not rare that trendy picks go down in flames under the pressure.  For being such a young team, this is not entirely improbable for the Browns.  All of these acquisitions will most likely make the Browns a better team, but that does not always mean more wins.  I’m not trying to be a downer, but fans in general should be cautiously optimistic.  The schedule is tougher and the defense is probably still not at the level Phil Savage wants; the problem there is that, as of right now, we won’t be hearing anything about the Browns until the fourth round of the draft.

At least this is better than the alternative.  The Browns are on the right track, so let’s just hope they continue on it.