As they speed harrowingly close to a winless season, here’s some good news on the Browns.
It is two-fold good news, actually.
It comes from Phil Steele.
You know of Steele, don’t you? The Cleveland area resident knows college football, especially, but also the NFL as well as anyone. His preseason guide – as thick as it is informative – is the Jim Brown of guides. It is far better than anything out there.
As he is every week during the football season, Steele was a guest on the “Dari and Mel Show” on ESPN radio on Saturday morning. It was heard locally on Cleveland’s WKNR-AM (850).
First things first. Steele, who, understandably so, hasn’t been too kind to the hometown Browns this season on the show, thinks the Browns have a decent shot to beat the host the Chicago Bears on Sunday. If he’s right, then the Browns would get their first win of the season on Christmas Eve for the second straight year.
Steele said that Cleveland and Chicago are “two very evenly -matched teams” and points out that the Bears have really struggled the last two years under head coach John Fox when they’ve been favored, as they are in this game by 6½ points. He thinks the Browns will not only cover the spread, but they will also win the game outright.
“The Browns have been in a lot of games this year, but they just end up screwing up in the fourth quarter,” Steele said, adding that they’re in the middle of the pack in the NFL is yardage differential per game this season.
Moreover – and this is the even better part – Steele said that he’s “bullish on the Browns for 2018.”
“With all the young talent they have, and with all the high draft picks they have for 2018, provided they do a good job with those picks, they could be set up to make a huge jump next year, maybe to as much as eight wins.”
For the Browns and their fans, having either one of those predictions coming true would be a nice Christmas present.
But having both come true?
That would be an incredible bounty of blessings under the tree.
We’ll know soon if Steele is 1-for-1.
