The Browns are an NFL-worst 2-10 and mired in a seven-game losing streak as they get set to host the San Francisco 49ers today at FirstEnergy Stadium.
At the end of the season, it is expected that team owner Jimmy Haslam will fire everybody and “blow this thing up,” which he declared at the start of training camp that he wouldn’t do.
But in all fairness to Haslam, with that proclamation, he was just trying to back General Manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine, which is what an owner should do. And in addition, neither he nor anyone else expected this season to look like what it has turned out to be, that is, an episode of Rod Serling’s “Night Gallery.”
But the last time the Browns hosted San Francisco, in the 2007 regular-season finale on Dec. 30 at what was then known as Cleveland Browns Stadium, it was a much different situation. In reality, it was their last hurrah.
While the 49ers were 5-10 and merely playing out the string as they headed toward their fifth straight losing season, the Browns were in rare air in their expansion era life in that they were 9-6 and in the AFC playoff hunt.
The new Browns had had only winning season and one playoff appearance, that coming in 2002 when they finished 9-7 and made it as a wild card on tie-breakers. They haven’t finished with a winning mark since 2007, and haven’t been in the postseason since 2002.
The 2007 Browns had had a chance to clinch a playoff berth the week before, but they were upset at Cincinnati, 19-14, in a horrible loss. That has haunted them since.
They still had a shot at the postseason as a wild card as they got set to host the 49ers, but now they needed helped. They had to win their game, and they also needed the Tennessee Titans, who were 9-6 as well, to lose to the high-riding Colts in Indianapolis.
The Browns did their part, building a 10-point halftime lead over San Francisco and riding that to a 20-7 win before 73,041 fans.
But the 13-2 Colts didn’t do theirs that evening on Sunday Night Football. They were virtually unbeatable at home during that time, but, in having the AFC South title clinched and being unable to improve their seeding in the conference playoffs even if they won, they sat future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. With non-descript Jim Sorgi under center, the Colts, who had won six straight, fell 16-10, allowing the Titans to snatch that playoff berth from the Browns’ grasp on tie-breakers.
That distinct possibility – that the Browns would fall just short — was on everyone’s minds that afternoon at Cleveland.
The fans cheered when Joshua Cribbs, the best returner the club has ever had and one of the best in NFL history, took a punt and raced 76 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
They cheered when Derek Anderson, on the way to becoming the first Cleveland quarterback in 20 years to make it to the Pro Bowl, threw a 45-yard TD pass to wide receiver Braylon Edwards, who had already broken the team record for scoring catches in a season.
They cheered when Phil Dawson, the best kicker in Browns history, booted a chip-shot 23-yard field goal to make it 17-7 at halftime.
They cheered when Dawson hit another kick, this one from a much longer distance, 49 yards, in the fourth quarter to make it 20-7 and, in essence, seal the deal.
And they cheered when the final gun went off a little later and the victory was in the books, giving the Browns a 10-6 mark, their best of the expansion era.
Then they crossed their fingers and went home to watch TV.
Things didn’t work out for the Browns and their fans that night, and they haven’t worked out since, as evidenced by the eight consecutive losing records.
But while the 2007 season was bittersweet, every year since then has been just plain bitter.
And for the fans who remember the taste of 2007, that has to change.
