Hope springs eternal for all teams at the start of every NFL season.

 

But so does reality.

 

And there is a healthy dose of both for the Browns as they square off against the Green Bay Packers at 8 tonight at Lambeau Field in what is now the preseason opener for both clubs.

 

The hope for the Browns as they try to rebuild under a new regime in the  expansion era for the umpteenth time is that they will look like a professional team in being organized and disciplined. There won’t be players continually lining up in the wrong places, including the neutral zone. The Browns won’t have to burn timeouts because they have only 10 men, or 12, on the field.

 

That’s a hope that will probably be fulfilled, for head coach Hue Jackson and his mostly veteran assistant coaches all know what they’re doing. They won’t let this team get embarrassed from that standpoint. They’ll have the Browns prepared to play.

 

That’s all well and good, but the reality of it is that the Browns simply don’t have enough good players at any position area right now. They’ve got a lot of holes and a long way to go before they can simply be competitive week in and week out, let alone playoff contenders.

 

And that fact will be made more obvious by the opponent being the Packers, who are once again considered one of the teams to beat in the NFC. They have had seven consecutive winning seasons, making it to the playoffs each time during that span, including winning a Super Bowl.

 

There are two reasons for that. First, they have a great head coach in Mike McCarthy who has been with them a long time. This is his 11th season. He is just their fourth head coach since 1992, and one of them — Ray Rhodes — spent only one season on the job. So in essence, having had three coaches in a quarter-century is even more off-the-charts impressive.

 

The Packers also have a great quarterback in Aaron Rodgers who has been with them a long time. This will be his ninth straight season as the starter. He is just their second starter since 1992, the other one being Brett Favre, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last Saturday. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. In any event, Rogers is sure to follow.

 

The Browns are at the opposite end of that spectrum in all three regards.

 

They have suffered through eight straight losing seasons and have made the playoffs just once – 14 years ago, in 2002 — since returning to the field in 1999.

 

Jackson is the Browns’ eighth head coach of the expansion era, and their fifth in the last seven years.

 

Robert Griffin III, who signed with the Browns in free agency in the offseason, is among the over 20 quarterbacks – and counting – who have started a game for the club since 1999.

 

That comparison tells you all you need to know.

 

The Browns want to get where the Packers are. It isn’t going to happen overnight. It’s going to take time – lots of time, really – for them to have a chance to do it, and what happens tonight will be the first baby steps in that direction.

 

But because of the presence of Jackson and his staffers, and their strong relationship with a young, brainy front office that seems to have done some good things in the seven months that it has been assembled, there is hope that the Browns can someday get it done.

 

Really.

 

Truly.

 

And for that, Browns fans should be eternally grateful.