BROWNS NEED TO SEIZE UPON THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY 

By STEVE KING
When the Atlanta was obliterating the New England Patriots 28-3 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter of Super Bowl 51, was there — anyone at all — who thought the Falcons would lose the game and also that both head coach Dan Quinn and General Manager Thomas Dimitroff Jr., a Barberton native and former Browns scout, would be summarily fired 3 1/2 years later with the team a trainwreck?

When the Browns went ahead of the Denver Broncos 20-13 with just under five minutes left in the 1986 AFC Championship Game before a raucous full house at Cleveland Stadium, and then smothered the Browns at their own 2 on the ensuing kickoff, was there anyone — anyone at all — who thought the Browns would lose the game and, 34 years later, still be searching for that elusive Super Bowl berth?
The answer to both questions is an emphatic, “No!” It seemed virtually downright impossible in both cases.
I say that — and recall both situations — for a very specific reason. The current Browns are 5-3 as they come out of their bye week at the halfway point of the season and get ready to host the Houston Texans on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium. That puts the Browns into the thick of the chase for a spot in the AFC playoffs as a wild card.
Fans are eager to see if the Browns can get into the postseason for the first time in 18 seasons, and for just the second time in 26 years. However, the prevailing thought seems to be that if the Browns don’t make it, it will kinda, sorta be OK because they are building a talented, young team that will crack the playoffs next season and then begin a multi-year run as a contender.
Hmmm. That seems — on the surface, at least —  to be a realistic appraisal of not just where the Browns are at now, but also where they’re going.
But don’t you dare fall for it.
There are no guarantees in the NFL or other sports — or, for that matter, life overall – beyond the present moment. There is no guarantee that the Browns will be back here again, with this excellent opportunity, anytime soon. As such, the future is not next year, two years or three seasons off in the future. Rather, it is right now, so the Browns need to do everything they can to make the playoffs in 2020 and, if they’re successful in doing that, then they also need to go on a postseason run.
Anything less than that is, in all honesty, totally unacceptable.
Just ask those long-ago Bernie Kosar-era Browns teams and the Atlanta Falcons of just a few years back.