Cleveland Browns: Surprises and Disappointments at the Midseason point

5-3 record

Heading into the season, if you promised a Browns fan a 5-3 record at the bye, they’d take it. Cleveland has yet to look competitive against an elite team, but hopefully they’ll redeem themselves in rematches with Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The Browns have faced four of the top eight defenses according to DVOA and won two of those games. And the Cincinnati Bengals just beat the Tennessee Titans handily, so Cleveland’s two victories over them now look even better. They have one of the easiest schedules in the NFL over the second half of the year, so while they should have been able to beat Las Vegas, a 5-3 record is still nothing to scoff at.

With practically zero offseason, minimal in-person interactions, no preseason, a new coaching staff and front office, and a rash of injuries, that’s impressive. If the Browns were under .500 right now, it would be understandable. Instead, they’re overachieving in a sense. And the team will be the first to say that what they’ve done to this point isn’t good enough.

It’s frustrating that the Ravens and Steelers are so good, because even though the Browns are currently one of the seven AFC playoff teams, they are third in the AFC North. However, as long as Cleveland takes care of business against the weaker teams remaining on the schedule, they’ll make the playoffs. And this time, they won’t be relying on a team winning in Week 17 despite sitting its starters because the game means nothing to them (not bitter at all, why do you ask?).