Stifle your laughter: the Cleveland Browns may actually be good this year. Yes, those Cleveland Browns. The ones who have exactly two winning seasons since their rebirth in 1999. This might be their year.
Obviously, anyone who hears the words “Browns” and “good” should be skeptical, but things are looking up for perennial doormats this season. Even oddsmakers are buying into the Browns being decent, as sportsbooks have the Browns’ priced at just +3 in Week 1 against a Redskins team that will also be significantly improved in 2014.
So what’s gotten into Cleveland? Well, they’ve got a new head coach in Mike Pettine, who helped Buffalo to the fourth-ranked defense last season based on DVOA. Cleveland’s D came in at 24th by the same metric, but in 2014 Pettine has some decent pieces to work with to lift that Browns unit, including last year’s top pick Barkevious Mingo and this year’s no. 1, cornerback Justin Gilbert.
And perhaps you may have heard, the Browns have this young quarterback named Johnny Manziel who’s supposedly pretty good. Of course, Johnny Football isn’t guaranteed a starting spot yet; he’ll need to beat out the incumbent Brian Hoyer. But now that Manziel has his focus fixed solely on football and not on hitting the club every night, it’s just a matter of time before he shows his true quality.
Sure, there’s still the looming season-long suspension for star wideout Josh Gordon, but a stronger defense should somewhat offset his loss on offense. And if Gordon somehow escapes with a much more lenient punishment a la Ray Rice, Ben Roethlisberger, and almost every NFL star facing suspension in history, the Browns may just be in contention to win the wide-open AFC North.
The Bengals remain prohibitive favorites, but they’re hardly dominant. The same goes for the Ravens and Steelers, whose quarterbacks have taken a step back since their respective Super Bowl successes.
An improved defense, a dash of Johnny Football magic and a few breaks here and there, and the Cleveland Browns might just be the ones laughing all the way to a division title when it’s all said and done.