I very much understand, appreciate and respect the role of analytics in sports, including football and even more specifically the NFL.

A decade ago, I couldn’t say that, and wouldn’t say that, but I’m all in now.

Indeed, you would be foolish — ignorant — to dismiss all those facts and figures, and numbers. They don’t lie.

The eye test doesn’t lie, either, and as such it also can’t be dismissed. I’m big on the eye test. You watch something, particularly in real time, and you begin to form opinions. And those opinions, combined with the ones derived from analytics, and those from gut feelings, lead us to an overall opinion.

I went into these NFL playoffs thinking that the Browns had a long way to go to be a serious contender in the AFC. The numbers — how does the record of 3-14 grab you? — tells me so. But after watching the three wild card-round games last weekend, I am blown away by how much farther behind they are than what I thought. It is literally light years.

That’s a numbing realization.

And the Kansas City Chiefs haven’t even played yet. When I watch the two-time defending Super Bowl champions in action, the distance the Browns have to go will almost certainly be even more significant.

My friend, Fritz, a Western Pennsylvania native, a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan and a man who really knows his football, is sadly coming to grips that his team may have to go through a thorough a rebuild for the first time in about 25 years. All teams — even the great ones — have to do that from time to time.

But the Browns are going into this rebuild — which, as mentioned, will be much more extensive than I thought it would, and I already thought it was going to be extensive — after being in the playoffs just twice — and not for long both times — in but five years. You can hardly call it a run. Perhaps only a trot, or even just a steady — or unsteady, as it were — walk. Last season was a crawl, and a slow, painful and frustrating one at that.

The rebuilding starts with — and is almost totally centered around — finding a quarterback, or probably two in a veteran one and a young one to develop.

Yes, the more we examine it, the bigger the job gets.

That’s especially so when we watch these postseason games. Enjoy them this weekend, but learn from them, too. 

Steve King