WITHOUT GARRETT, BROWNS STILL BEAT PHILADELPHIA

By STEVE KING

The Browns did it.

Everybody wondered if they could do it – there was a good amount of thought from some corners that they couldn’t do it – but they did it.

Despite not having their best player, sack-artist defensive end Myles Garrett, who sat out because of having come down with COVID-19, the Browns were still able to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 22-17 on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.

BROWNS WIN‼️ pic.twitter.com/6bA6WdXlag

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) November 22, 2020

With the win, their second in a row since coming out of their bye week at the midway point of their season, the Browns improved to 7-3 and stayed right in the thick of the AFC postseason hunt with six games to play. They haven’t been to the playoffs since 2002, 18 years ago. It also enabled the Browns to surpass their wins total from all of last season, when they were 6-10, and to equal the most wins they have had since 2008 (7-9 in 2014). By beating the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday on the road, they would guarantee themselves of not having a losing record for just the third time in the expansion era. The Browns’ last winning mark was 10-6 in 2007.

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But again, as we’ve pointed out before here, good teams need to survive during times of adversity, such as when their best player is out. There are no excuses, no lamenting tough situations. It’s a next-man-up philosophy, and off you go. That the Browns exhibited that is a real step in the right direction, and a sign that all these young players are growing up and starting to mature. That will serve the Browns well going forward.

Along with that, if a team wants to get into playoffs and make some noise – and more – then it has to beat the bad clubs, especially at home. And make no mistake about it, the Eagles, now just 3-6-1, are a bad team in a horrible division, the NFC (L)East.

So it was a good day for the Browns, but there’s little time for any celebration. They need to keep winning.