BROWNS STILL PERFECT IN ONE CRITICAL WAY

By STEVE KING

Thanksgiving is over.

The NFL schedule is already into December, the last month of the regular season.

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So it’s late – not very late yet, but late enough. By the end of this weekend’s play, there will be just four games left.

And yet the best-kept secret around is that the Browns are still undefeated in the AFC North.

When is the last time at this point of the season that the Browns have still not had a loss in the division?

Answer: a heckuva long time.

It will be the Browns – 5-6 overall but 2-0 in the North, with the wins coming over the perennial powers, the Baltimore Ravens and Steelers – heading into Sunday’s all-important game at Pittsburgh.

If the Browns can beat the Steelers – and there’s every reason to believe they’ll do so if they just play the way they’re capable of – then they should finish the season no worse than 5-1 in the division.

Yes, you read that correctly, 5-1 in the North.

The Browns have two division games left against the hapless Cincinnati Bengals, and a contest at home against Baltimore, which they beat 40-25 two months ago. With the way they’re running away with the division title, the Ravens, of course, look like an entirely different team now than they did then. But so, too, do the Browns, for that performance was just a monetary respite from what was otherwise a dreadful 2-6 start.

To become a contender in the NFL, one of the primary things – perhaps THE primary thing – a team must do is win games in its division. So far this season, the Browns are doing exactly that. They should be 3-0 in the North by nightfall Sunday.

They’re still not doing quite as well at home as they need to, but their three-game winning streak has come entirely at FirstEnergy Stadium, evening their record there at 3-3.

So things are looking up overall. A win at Pittsburgh would elevate that to way up.

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