FINAL pic.twitter.com/45zCIymIrz

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) December 12, 2021

The 2020 Browns topped a bitter division foe in the Pittsburgh Steelers, holding on at the very end for a 24-22 home victory that earned them a trip into the playoffs for the first time in 18 years.

Will another 24-22 home win over a different bitter division foe — this time the Baltimore Ravens — on Sunday, 51 weeks later to the day, achieved when they held on for dear life at the very end, be the catalyst the current Browns need to get hot down the stretch and earn a postseason berth again?

The now 7-6 Browns, very much still alive and still kicking both in the wild-card race and the division race, where they now trail the first-place Ravens (8-5) by a game pending the result of Cincinnati’s game at Sam Francisco — and their fans — can only hope, but we’ll see.

This was a typical AFC North game in that it was both beautiful and coyote-ugly, both teams at one time, the Browns in the first half and the Ravens in the second half, looked like they could do nothing wrong, especially offensively, and at another time, the Browns in the second half and the Ravens in the first half, looked like they could do nothing right, especially offensively.

This division is as close as it’s ever been, even going back to the days of the North’s predecessor, the AFC Central, in the 1970s and ’80s with the Houston Oilers, now the Tennessee Titans, joining the Browns, Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers before the Ravens were born.

This is going to be a dogfight to the end in this division. You can almost count on it. The team that gets hot down the stretch and ultimately wins the title, is the one that is the most balanced in all three phases of the game and makes big plays late when they are there to be made.

The Browns took a step in that direction on Sunday. As difficult as that was at times, it’s a whole lot better than not taking that step.

By Steve King