3 Reasons Cleveland Browns should be optimistic of Super Bowl chances in 2023
By John Suchan
The Cleveland Browns have several things falling into place for 2023 that should make fans optimistic about winning a Super Bowl
When the Cleveland Browns won the NFL Championship in 1964, it was probably the last thing anyone that loved the Browns back then would have ever dreamed of now, that the team would be shut out of any future championship since. The Super Bowl was created back in 1965 and Cleveland is one of only a handful of teams that hasn't even made it to the game. Despite this gloomy statistic, the 2023 version of the Browns still has a very good shot at getting to the big game and winning one.
As a Browns fan, you've been here before. Every year, we say, "there's always next year," and while we say that almost robotically to cover the scars of cheering on this team for so long who have failed miserably in the past, we still have hope. So, while we are opportunistically going to tackle some of the main reasons to believe in this team going into 2023, we aren't unaware of the reality of the situation because of the team's long history of faltering.
3 reasons to be optimistic that the Browns can win a Super Bowl in 2023
Reason No. 3: Deshaun Watson
The million-dollar man, make that the $230 million man was brought to Cleveland for the sole purpose of getting to the Super Bowl. While that's a lot of pressure put on the shoulders of one player, it is still something that Watson can do. He was considered a top-10 quarterback in the NFL when he played for the Houston Texans and while we want him to show that same flare for the game right now, he's still coming back after a nearly two-year window due to a lengthy suspension.
Watson's career got off to a fast start after he was drafted by the Texans in 2017. In 2018 and 2019, he helped take Houston to the playoffs. They won a postseason game in 2019 beating the Buffalo Bills 22-19 and then played a great first quarter going up 24-0 in an AFC Divisional playoff game the following week against the eventual Super Bowl champs that season, the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the Chiefs stormed back in the second quarter of that crazy game and won 51-31.
Things went south for Watson the next season in Houston. Then the trade happened, sending him to Cleveland, and after the off-the-field issues that eventually led to a suspension, he finally began playing for the Browns to close out this past season. While he didn't show off a lot of what we remember him playing like in those two spectacular seasons in Houston, he does now give his new team some legitimate momentum as they prep for 2023.
The former Clemson Tiger is still only 27 years old and has a lot of good football in front of him. Browns fans tend to want instant results — and honestly, why wouldn't Cleveland fans expect anything less? They've been waiting 59 years for another championship and they have a quarterback that could lead their team to that Super Bowl now. You need more than just a quarterback to win a title, but we see how Super Bowls are won these days and it starts with the quarterback.