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CINCINNATI – Since the NFL moved to six four-team divisions in 2002, the Browns finished last in AFC North 13 times in 16 seasons.
No other NFL team has finished more than nine times. In the AFC North, everyone knew what would be the worst team.
It was never the Steelers because they join the Patriots and the Seahawks, while the three teams never finish last in this format. It's twice the Ravens (in 2005 tied with the Browns and in 2007) and twice the Bengals (in 2002 and 2010).
So, if the Browns change, the AFC North is changing.
This conference should be looking for a new doormat. Because if the Browns are no longer the Browns, someone has to take their place.
After being in a few Browns losing locker rooms, a tour of the Bengals locker room on Sunday afternoon offered a familiar atmosphere, a mixture of anger and resignation, with rumors of injuries and slow starts and the need for everyone to do his job. The Bengals are still ahead of the Browns in North AFC, at 5-6 against the Browns 4-6-1, but after the Browns rushed to Cincinnati on Sunday morning and stood for a victory 35 to 20, they did not do it. feel like that
This is not a story of the Bengals, however. It's a Browns story. After a decade of fixing the problem, it's a reminder of what the Browns are doing now, sometimes, to other teams.
We are going to get the Bengals to think Browns. But what do the Browns think the other teams might think of them now, since they won two of Gregg Williams' three acting coaches?
"I mean, they can not think of the same old Browns. It's a thing of the past, "said defender Myles Garrett. "They have to look at what we did and we held out almost every game. … They have to watch a movie and know that we have potential and players at every point capable of playing. "
I hate talking about "same old Browns", and guys like Garrett and Baker Mayfield should not have to commit to it. But I asked the question that led Garrett to this sentence in the context of that – passing the label.
This is not a playoff discussion. If you want to imagine the team with the 12th best record of the AFC winning against Houston, Carolina, Denver, Cincinnati and Baltimore en route to a 9-6-1 record that will place them in the last place I'm going to have to m & # To engage elsewhere.
We are only talking about the release of the Brown basement for the first time since 2010.
Because it will happen. On Sunday, the Browns were full of life, amused by the fact that Damari Randall had intercepted a pass and was off the court to give the ball to Hue Jackson, the former Browns coach, on the sideline. , in a post of a fraction of a second worthy of a fresco.
The Bengals were this:
"I'm going to keep believing in this team, that's why I'm doing it every week, it's hard, it's bad, I'm extremely hurt and angry." – Receiver Tyler Boyd.
"I see (press), yes. I can speak for myself about it. You feel that you have to do something to play and then give up something. – Linebacker Jordan Evans.
"We must show this heart to the four quarters. It was a little frustrating. We relaunched it when we were 35-7, but no matter what the NFL team is, it's a bit difficult when you're 28 years old. – Jessie Bates, security.
"I think sometimes it's as if coach Lewis said it when we arrived. If I'm a linebacker, it's the fault of the defensive line, the security, the offensive or the special teams. No, it's nobody's fault, but yours. … think of yourself. Do not worry about anyone else. Do your job or they'll have someone here to do your job better. Everyone must have that in their heads. – Linebacker Vincent Rey.
How many times have you read quotes like this one from Browns?
Now, the Browns have forced those words out of a rival by hitting them on the football field. The Browns do not just improve. They help other teams get worse.
While evaluating their own failures, the Bengals were also forced to respond to the Brown's pre-game speech during the week. Cincinnati had to explain Cleveland's confidence.
"All speeches and things like that go into the game, we are all proud men, we are all competitive," said Bengals receiver Alex Erickson. "When you see it, you see it, and it's in your head and you know who said it, and that's all part of the game."
They were forced to talk about the rookie quarterback Browns after Baker Mayfield threw four touchdowns.
"I just know what he brings in every locker room," said Evans, who played with Mayfield in Oklahoma. "That's exactly the kind of player he was. That's what he brought to OR and that's what he brought to Cleveland. Do you see it. "
They even had to talk about Randall putting the ball back to Jackson, their new assistant to the head coach.
"I did not see it," receiver John Ross said, "but I mean, stuff like that, we're told," OK, that's how you want to do it? "Then we improve our game, and we did some games over there, did we do enough?" "Probably not, but we'll have another chance to play again, so we'll see you next time."
This will happen during the penultimate week of the year in Cleveland on December 23rd.
At this point, it is perhaps clear who will finish in the AFC North this season.
Not the Browns.
NFL last place finish since 2002
13 – Cleveland
9 – Tampa Bay
8 – Detroit, Washington, Buffalo
7 – Houston, Oakland
6 – N.Y. Jets, St. Louis / LA Rams, Chicago
5 – Miami, Jacksonville, Kansas City Metropolitan Area, San Francisco, Arizona
4 – Dallas, Philadelphia, Caroline, San Diego / Chargers LA, Tennessee
3 – New Orleans, Atlanta, Minnesota, N.Y Giants
2 – Cincinnati, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Denver
1 – Green Bay
0 – Pittsburgh, New England, Seattle
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