THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM FOR BROWNS FANS
By STEVE KING
Sunday will be fine.
It’s the week off in the NFL, the time between the AFC and NFC title games last Sunday and Super Bowl 55 on Sunday night between the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and the “host” Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
As such, then, Browns fans will not be watching any football, which is a positive in that they won’t be reminded of what could have been. That is, they won’t be thinking about the blown opportunity by the Browns.
The Browns battled back from a 19-3 deficit and lost 22-17 to the Chiefs in the AFC divisional round two weeks ago. But it could have ended so much differently, as the Browns, trailing by the final score in the fourth quarter and with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes out of the game after getting shaken up on a tackle, got the ball back on an interception in the end zone with a chance to go ahead. But they went three plays and out. It was a horrible series, and a horrible way to end the season offensively.
And the Browns ended the year even more horribly defensively, and more importantly, overall, by failing to stop backup quarterback Chad Henne from making two key plays after putting the Chiefs into a third-and-14 situation. His second play – a short pass to get the first down — sealed the win, and the Browns’ fate.
Most people believe the Browns will be back, that, with all their young, talented players, especially on offense, this is just the start of what should be a prolonged run of success.
That makes sense, and it may well be the case.
But at the same time, there are no guarantees of that happening. What was guaranteed was a chance to get a TD in Kansas City and perhaps pull off a huge upset win, and it seemed they had a real chance to do so because the stars seemed all aligned in just the right way for that to happen.
The Browns didn’t get it done, though, and watching the Super Bowl will be a disappointing reminder of that.
