Cleveland Browns can win the AFC North, and here’s how it happens

While things look bleak for the Cleveland Browns in the AFC North this season, hope isn’t lost and there’s still a way they can win the division.

Things are looking very bleak for the Cleveland Browns in the race to win the AFC North race after their disappointing 24-22 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day. Currently, Cleveland sits dead last in their division with a record of 7-8.

In front of them, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a record of 7-7-1, the Baltimore Ravens have a record of 8-7, and the Cincinnati Bengals have a record of 9-6.

Although the Browns are in the back seat of the division, if things go perfect for them in these next two weeks, they will still be crowned the first place champions of the AFC North.

Cleveland Browns Week 17 outlook

In Week 17, the first thing that must happen for the Browns to win the division is for Cleveland to take down the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football.

This is a very winnable game for Cleveland as they were embarrassingly defeated by the Steelers by a small margin earlier in the season. With the Browns just barely being beat by the top team in the NFL last week, even with the offense imploding, the game against Pittsburgh should be a relatively easy win.

The second thing that must happen in Week 17 is that the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Cincinnati Bengals. This is another requirement that would not be a longshot to occur. The Chiefs have finally gotten things back on track and they once again look like one of if not the best team in the entire AFC. Despite this, the Bengals have had an incredible coming-out party this season and have taken the entire NFL by surprise.

The third thing for week sixteen is that the Baltimore Ravens lose to the Los Angeles Rams. This isn’t a requirement, however, the Ravens have to either lose in Week 17 or Week 18 for the Browns to win the division. With the Ravens playing the Rams in Week 17 and the Steelers in Week 18, it’s much more likely that they are defeated by the Rams than the Steelers.

Cleveland Browns Week 18 outlook

The only thing that is required to happen in Week 18 is that the Browns defeat the Bengals. For some reason, every time Cleveland takes on Cincinnati, Baker Mayfield really steps up and the Browns have an incredible passing game. Ideally, history repeats itself and the Browns can breeze by Cincinnati.

Also, if the Ravens don’t lose to the Rams in Week 17, they must lose to the Steelers in the final weekend for the Browns to win their division and make the playoffs.

If this all ends up happening, Cleveland will lead the division with a record of 9-8. The Bengals will also have a record of 9-8 but the Browns will be ranked in front of them due to Cleveland going 2-0 against Cincinnati.

If the Ravens only lose one of their remaining two games, they will also have a record of 9-8, however, even with the teams going 1-1 against each other this year, the Browns will still have the tiebreaker as they have a better record against the AFC North than the Ravens do this year. Finally, the Steelers would have a record of 8-7-1.

It’s not impossible, so let’s keep hope alive.