Browns rebound from loss, defeat Bengals
By STEVE KING
The Browns were determined not to let the one-sided 38-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday gain momentum and turn into more losses.
And they were successful.
After a nightmarish beginning, the Browns finally righted themselves, rebounding from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 37-34 on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.
The Throw.
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) October 25, 2020
The Catch.@bakermayfield to @dpeoplesjones FOR THE WIN.
📺: #CLEvsCIN on CBS pic.twitter.com/cIlcHw99yr
It allows the Browns to sweep the season series from their AFC North rivals, but much more importantly, it pushes their record to an impressive 5-2. It’s the first time they’ve started that quickly since 1994, when they eventually got to 6-2 on their way to an 11-5 mark and an AFC playoff berth as a wild card. The Browns could match that 6-2 mark at the halfway point of the season by defeating the Las Vegas Raiders next Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium in their final game before their bye week.
If that happens, then a playoff berth – the Browns’ first since way back in 2002 – becomes even more of a possibility. They could go 3-5 in the second half of the year and still finish 9-7, which would be their best record in 13 years and, again, much more importantly, it would put them right into the hunt for one of the three wild-card playoff spots up for grabs.
But while that would be something for a team that finished 6-10 last year and has had just two winning records in the expansion era that began in 1999, the Browns, with this excellent start, want a whole lot more. And they should want a whole lot more.
Every season in the NFL, there is at least one team that turns itself around from the year before and gets into the playoffs. Why can’t it be the Browns? They did exactly that in 2002, finishing 9-7 after being 7-9 the previous season. After waiting 18 years, it’s about time they did it again.
