Cleveland Browns: 5 reasons 2020 season is a success, playoffs or not
By Sam Penix
3. Overcoming adversity
Kevin Stefanski couldn’t have been put in a much more difficult situation as a rookie head coach. The Browns were a complete disaster in 2019, and if fixing that mess wasn’t going to be difficult enough, Stefanski had to do everything virtually over the offseason due to the ongoing pandemic.
The effects of that were evident as Cleveland was thrashed 38-6 in the season opener by the Baltimore Ravens. The team has had its share of COVID-19-related issues, most notably this past week as basically the entire wide receiver room was forced to sit out against the New York Jets.
Injuries to key players like Odell Beckham, Grant Delpit, Ronnie Harrison Jr., Denzel Ward, Olivier Vernon, Wyatt Teller, Chris Hubbard, Austin Hooper, and others have thrown more wrenches into the Browns plans, but they still stand here at 10-5 with one game to go. Myles Garrett missed two games with the virus and is still not back to normal. Last season’s coaching staff dealing with this situation would have been…interesting.
It remains to be seen what the 2021 season will hold in regards to health and safety protocols, but whatever the case may be, the Browns have learned a lot about themselves this season. Past teams would have crumbled under the pressure, but this one rose to the occasion more often than not.