For conversation’s sake, let’s assume that the Browns, who needed binoculars to see the bottom end of the playoffs last year, had instead not just gotten into the postseason, but had advanced all the way to the AFC Championship Game, only to get routed at home.

What would be the reaction of Browns owner Jimmy Haslam?

He’d no doubt be delighted. He might even try to stage a parade to celebrate the accomplishment. Indeed, strike up the band!

That’s because over the last 37 years, the Browns have lowered their expectations — their standards — considerably.

They were upset and devastated when, from 1985 to ‘89, they failed to make it to the Super Bowl. Yes, those may have been great seasons overall,  but they were not what the Browns were after. They wanted championships, and they were denied each time.

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert feels the same way. After his team lost in one-sided fashion to the New York Knicks on Monday night to complete getting swept in the Eastern Conference Finals, he said that the team “is nowhere near where we need to be.”

Again, the Browns need to look around at where they’ve been as an organization and where the Cavaliers are right now, so frustrated because they can’t get to where they want to go, even though the season may have been deemed a success by some people.

Steve King