Is this January 1987 all over again?

By STEVE KING

In one regard, I wish it were 34 years ago.

Gee, who, especially those seasoned citizens like me, wouldn’t want to turn back the clock almost 3½ decades, when our joints didn’t hurt so much and our hair didn’t have much, if any, gray in it?

But at the same time, in another way, I absolutely, positively don’t want to go back 34 years.

Why?

Because that takes us back to mid-January 1987, when the Browns were still reeling from a 23-20 loss in overtime to the Denver Broncos in the 1986 AFC Championship Game. That was when the stars were all aligned for the Browns to get to their first Super Bowl. The window of opportunity was wide open, and they simply couldn’t take advantage of it.

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We knew the Browns had a young, developing team that, while already being good, would get even better over the next three to four years. As such, then, the Browns would certainly get to the Super Bowl at least once, and probably twice, during that time. Or at least that’s what we all thought.

That didn’t happen, either, with losses to the Broncos in the AFC title game in both 1987 and ’89 and a loss in the wild-card round to the Houston Oilers in 1988. By 1990, those young players had all gotten old at the same time and the window of opportunity had closed.

Are we there again with the Browns?

That 22-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in the AFC divisional loss was definitely a winnable game. It was there for the taking. The stars were once again aligned in just the right sway, but the Browns couldn’t capitalize on it.

Yes, it appears that the Browns, once again young and talented, are in the first stages of a sustained run of success and Super Bowl contention. But will that loss on Sunday haunt them? Will it represent their best chance to make it to the Super Bowl?

I sure hope not, but, even after letting the Chiefs loss simmer for about a day, I’m just not sure.