NFL quickly ruins Browns’ big TNF win with brutal reality check

Despite a huge win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16 that saw the Cleveland Browns doing the unthinkable and defeating their AFC North rival, the NFL decided to serve a big reality check to the 3-8 Browns.

The league announced after TNF that they would be moving the Browns' Week 16 game against the Cincinnati Bengals - another AFC North battle - from their previously scheduled TNF primetime game to Sunday, Dec. 22nd. They'll be replacing that Battle of Ohio with a battle between the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos, two of the more surprisingly great teams in the league this season. It's the NFL's first ever flex of a Thursday night game, and it came in the eleventh hour. The news came via ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Read more: Grading the Browns defense against Steelers in Week 12

It's a valid move - while the Browns obviously provided a very fun game between themselves and the Steelers in TNF, Cleveland is still 3-8, and the Bengals are still 4-7. Both teams are struggling mightily, while the Steelers were at least a guarantee to put up a fight against the Browns in Week 12. That did end up happening, but it's unlikely to happen again between these two Ohio teams.

The flex is loud message from the NFL - while Cleveland hosted a highly entertaining and classic AFC North game between themselves and Pittsburgh in Week 12, with snow galore, they're still a losing team. And, the chances of anyone tuning in to see them repeat any sort of magic like that against a team just as bad as them this season were very low.

Flex is great for Browns' health

Despite the fact that it does feel like a demotion from the league to the Browns, the fact that Cleveland will now have four extra days of rest between that anticipated TNF game and their rescheduled Sunday afternoon game is a great thing. It was going to be a tight turnaround after a Kansas City Chiefs game in Week 15 to then go square off with the Bengals on the road.

Now, there's a good chance that the team can get a fully healthy offensive line ahead of the game and, potentially, see the return of Jedrick Wills Jr. as the backup to German Ifedi at left tackle specifically. In addition, the team should be providing an update on Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah's health soon, so the extra days are sure to help with his rehab. Week 12 also saw some scary potential injuries to two key Browns players - Cedric Tillman and Myles Garrett, who both saw time in the blue medical tent after taking hits to their head.

With an additional few days in between the Chiefs game and this new Bengals game, Cleveland can likely rely more on Garrett and Tillman to be 100 percent.

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