Home sweet home.

That is one of many themes for the Browns this year, and it played out again on Sunday as the Browns held on to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars 31–27 at Cleveland Browns Stafoum.

It wasn’t easy, as evidenced by the fact that the Browns were ahead by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and had to hold on until the very end to win.

It wasn’t pretty, because the Browns turned the ball over way too many times.

But at the end of the day, a win is a win is a win, and that’s all the Browns do at home is win. They are 6-1 there this year as they have returned the home-field advantage that was prevalent for so many years with the original franchise.

With those original Browns, whether it was the first teams in the 1940s and ‘50s, the great clubs of the 1960s, the Kardiac Kids of 1980 or the Browns of the last half of the 1980s furing the Bernie Kosar era, you just knew that somehow, some way, they would find a way to win. And that’s the way it was Sunday. That’s the way it’s been at home for most of this season.

Indeed, home is where the wins are for the Browns.

The formula for not just a winning season, but a great one, is to win almost all of your games at home and then try to at least split your games on the road. If you do that, then you’re going to be in great shape, and the Browns, who improved to 8-5, are in great shape with four games left.

They have another home game next Sundayagainst the Chicago Bears, and that won’t be easy because the Bears defeated the Detroit Lions on Sunday and should’ve beaten them the first time they played. The Lions are 9-4 and one of the best teams in the NFC.

The Browns finish up at home with a Dec. 28 Thursday Night Football game against the New York Jets. So, if the Browns can get both of those games, then they will set themselves up really well to make the postseason for the first time since 2020.

The Browns play with poise at home, they play with a confidence, they play with a purpose and they make big plays when there are big plays to be made. It’s good to see, but the Browns have to start doing a better job on the road.

We’ll worry about that later. You get to celebrate a victory in the NFL for only 24 hours , so let’s get this party started.

Steve King