Cleveland Browns: Week 17 NFL power rankings and draft status
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns have one more game to go in the 2016 season as they attempt to secure the top pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
One more week, one more game.
That is all that stands between the Cleveland Browns and the most important off-season in franchise history. (At least until the next one.)
The Browns had their cake and ate it too last weekend as they finally won a game and kept their grip on the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Now all the Browns have to do to secure that top pick is lose on Sunday to the Pittsburgh Steelers, something they have done with alarming regularity in recent years.
As for that second first-round pick, it can still be in the Top 10 but only if the Philadelphia Eagles lose at home to the Dallas Cowboys who, like the Steelers, are locked into their playoff seeding and may rest their starters for the game.
Got all that? OK, then, onto the weekly NFL power rankings, where the Browns only received a slight bump from their big win.
Cameron DaSilva at Fox Sports:
No. 31: The Browns won a game! But they’re still in the bottom-two, considering just how bad they really are. But hey, there’s always 2017 when they’re likely to have two top-10 picks in the draft. (Pittsburgh No. 4, Baltimore No. 14, Cincinnati No. 23)
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Chris Simms at Bleacher Report:
No. 32: It’s impossible for me to play the Grinch here. Cleveland’s magical drought-breaker felt like a warm cup of cocoa. This roster—the most talent-poor one the NFL has seen in some time—found a way to win in Week 16. It did so by going back to basics: running the football and winning the turnover battle. That recipe will serve Hue Jackson well in year two of his rebuild. (Pittsburgh No. 4, Baltimore No. 14, Cincinnati No. 23)
No. 32: These 2016 Browns finally won a game, and damn it feels nice to type it. While we’re at it, those Cleveland fans who wanted the Chargers to prevail so that the Browns would obtain the first overall pick didn’t need to commit such a sports sin. The 49ers’ win late Saturday means the Moneyballers are in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 selection. As an aside, the year I went to the most Cowboys games as a kid was 1989. Dallas was terrible that season, finishing 1-15. I never rooted against them. Just saying. Congratulations, Brownies. (Pittsburgh No. 3, Baltimore No. 13, Cincinnati No. 25)
ESPN:
No. 32: How about this? The Browns win their first game of the season and avoid becoming the second team to go 0-16. However, the 49ers and Jaguars win, too! The Browns’ FPI chances for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft improved from 85 percent to 94 percent following Week 16. (Pittsburgh No. 5, Baltimore No. 12, Cincinnati No. 21)
Next: Browns bowl watch: Myles Garrett
No. 32: Good for the Browns. Nobody will remember them a few years from now. Had they gone 0-16, they’d be talked about 40 years from now. Ask the 1976 Buccaneers. (Pittsburgh No. 5, Baltimore No. 11, Cincinnati No. 25)