The guy who is always sure

By STEVE KING
I have strong, definite opinions about most subjects.
You have to be that way if you’re voicing opinions on a daily basis, which, of course, I do on this website.
But that’s not so much the case regarding Myles Garrett’s comments about the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers and the AFC North race. I don’t know what, specifically, to think. The only thing I have a strong opinion about on that matter is that I don’t have a strong opinion.
The star Browns defensive end tweeted after the Steelers’ first loss of the season, 23-17 to the Washington Football Team on Monday evening, that they — and it — might have “opened the door” for the rest of the division, particularly the second-place Browns, to make a run at the title.
Hmmm.
OK. let’s get into it.
First of all, the Steelers, unless they let that defeat signal the start of a total collapse, are going to win the North. They are the best team — the eye test tells you that, even with the fact they’ve not played very well, especially on offense, for about a month, which is why the loss is not surprising at all — and, at 11-1, they have a two-game lead over the 9-3 Browns with four games left and they own most of the tie-breakers over Cleveland, including the first one, head-to-head competition, after that 38-7 drubbing at Heinz Field a couple months ago.
The Browns could still have a great regular season, far beyond what even the most optimistic among us could have imagined, and still lose out to Pittsburgh in the division race. And that’s fine, for the Steelers and defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs seem to be — clearly — the two best teams in the NFL. So, then, would you take a playoff berth as a wild card for the Browns? Well, yeah, of course you would. Everybody in Northeast Ohio would since it would end an 18-year playoff-less drought.
I also think Garrett and the Browns should be more focused on themselves, and their next game against the Baltimore Ravens and the one-week-at-a-time approach that it takes to win in this league, than on the Steelers and winning the division. Just make the playoffs. That’s all that matters, especially this late in the season, for once you’re in, then you can wreak havoc, which I think the Browns have a chance to do.
But on the other hand, I also like the fact that Garrett and the Browns aren’t satisfied with just making the postseason. They want to do it in style, by having the best regular-season record they can possibly have to get the highest seed possible.
But whatever the case, it is, as mentioned, now time for Myles Garrett and the Browns to start shutting everything –and everybody —  else out and honing in on the Baltimore Ravens and MNF.

The extra day helps

Things are going so well for the Browns right now that even the schedule is working in their favor.
It comes first with the fact that they have an extra day not only to prepare for their next game, but also to distance themselves from the euphoria of their stunning — and seminal — 41-35 victory over Tennessee Titans on Sunday. That game has to be in the rear-view mirror now. These 16 games on the schedule are like 16 tests, and the fact the Browns aced the last one doesn’t mean that they’ll also ace the next one.
And that next test is against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football at FirstEnergy Stadium.
That the game is on a national stage, and against an AFC North foe that has dominated them, especially in recent seasons, including with Baltimore’s 38-6 romp in this year’s opener, will get the Browns’ full attention right away.
The Browns have a score to settle with the Ravens, and they also want to prove to the rest of the football world that their win over Tennessee was legitimate, and so are they. They will need no rousing pep talk from the coaches — if those still exist in the NFL, which I doubt — to get them ready. The players will be able to do it individually, and collectively.
The Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers have made their home stadiums into death traps for opponents. Those teams are good anywhere, but they are even tougher to beat at home.
The Browns need to do that as well with FirstEnergy Stadium. They defeated the Indianapolis Colts at home this year, but they lost to the Las Vegas Raiders. Beating the Ravens, and then the Steelers when they come to Cleveland in the regular-season finale, would be much more beneficial than defeating the Colts. The Colts come to Cleveland only every so often, whereas Pittsburgh and Baltimore visit every season.