Cleveland Browns: 3 myths exposed about the 2016 team

The Cleveland Browns struggled through a rough 2016 season. But is the team really in bad shape? Let’s bust three myths surrounding the current team.

As the Cleveland Browns worked their way through the 2016 NFL season and the losses piled up, a weekly debate took hold among fans and media members.

By virtue of their record, the Browns certainly had to be not only the worst team in all of the NFL, but there was talk that they should be in the discussion for the worst team in league history.

While there is some truth the cliché that “you are what your record says,” that is a lazy way to view this year’s Browns.

The Browns may have finished at 1-15 on the season, but are they really any worse than the San Francisco 49ers just because the 49ers had two wins against the equally woeful Los Angeles Rams? Could anyone really make a case that the Chicago Bears or the Jacksonville Jaguars are in a better place than the Browns? Is 3-13 really that different from 1-15?

As 0-2 became 0-4, 0-8 and ultimately 0-14 before the Browns finally won a game, the equally lazy narrative that the analytics approach the Browns were following was “not working.” The implication being that “real teams” don’t waste their time with analytics because they are too busy winning games.

It may be splitting hairs at this point, but the reality is that the Browns were never the worst team in the league this season, nor are they truly one of the worst teams in league history. And while 1-15 puts them in the discussion, they are not even the worst team in franchise history.

Now that the season is over and we have some time before the draft talk goes into full overdrive, let’s dispel those three myths about the 2016 Cleveland Browns.