Lots of yak the past few days about the fact that the Bengals are in the Superbowl and the Browns are not. There is no shortage of opinions on this from ESPN and local sports radio and TV.  Reminder, the only people that thought is was preordained that Browns would be there are those  - frankly talking heads and their lousy take about the Browns last August.  The Browns had to earn it, they did not, but why?

Joe Burrow and Baker Mayfield have some things in common and some not.  Both first pick QB's in the draft, both charged with turning around terrible teams and both in a tough division.  Both suffering a big injury.  The differences? Baker has played for more years, two of them with a clown show coaching staff that is now gone, and he is injured right now.  Burrow has played two years with a solid coaching staff and plan and is over his injury and is healthy now. 

Burrow is better, but that has nothing to do with Baker. Burrow is better than virtually all others from the neck up, and has incredible skills from the neck down. He is a generational guy.  Cerebral, smart, prepared, Brady-like.  If he stays healthy, he will be better than most that have ever played the game. And that again has nothing to do with Baker. Browns fans can't compare the two, but they do for some reason. If Burrow was there the year the Browns had the top pick, they would have taken him of course.

Baker was significantly hurt all year, as was the Browns offensive line, as was basically Kareem Hunt, and Jarvis Landry.  Covid hit the Browns late in the year and cost us a win or two.  The head coach gets bored watching the best running attack in the NFL for some reason and abandons it in big games and calls plays that are head scratching at best and ridiculous at worst.  There were some players here doggin' it all year making it very problematic in the locker room too. They have absolutely awful special teams, and a kicker that doesn't make field goals in big games.  Fair question, what team survives all that and has a great year?

Tough words? Yes, and all true. We are not in the Superbowl and those are among the reasons why. If the narrative over the next number of years is going to be about Burrow and Baker that's time and energy wasted. Burrow is a Bengal and Baker is a Brown and that's just the luck of the draft.

So, why is Burrow in the Superbowl?  Or more accurately and honestly, why are the BENGALS in the Superbowl? He's 100% healthy, as is most of his team. They are well coached, and they have sunk about 200 million (fact) into their defense over the past two years.  They have a GREAT kicker that they drafted and drafted an amazing receiver that Burrow wanted badly and he's made all the difference.  They also beat the Steelers twice and the Ravens twice to get in position to make the playoffs. I have said that here for years, you must beat the Steelers TWICE a year and they did, we did not. If we would have, we would be in the playoffs. BTW who beat the Bengals TWICE this year?  The Browns.  And Baker has never lost to Burrow. 

And another BTW, if the horribly coached Browns could have won just 1 more game of the five they SHOULD have won but blew from the sidelines, the last game against the Bengals would have been for the playoffs.  Math says the Browns are not far away, but reality says they might be. The Browns issue is not solely Baker, who needs to get healthy and play the way he can.  It's organizational. They need to be better in many avenues outside of that.

But here is the good news.  With all that went wrong this year there is next year to learn from this and get it right.  Sign Baker to a deal that makes sense and get that behind you, rid yourselves of guys who are not loyal and don't want to be here.  Start beating the Steelers, and Ravens and beat Burrow when it's his turn. Get healthy all across the board, and get smart for the love of God and make play calls, coaching, roster and draft decisions that make at least some kind of sense. As a fan, I would ask you maybe lay off Baker (who needs to be better) and jump on the coaching staff, they are far more of the problem.

I will not moan about the fact they have Burrow and we have Baker. 30 other teams don't have Burrow either.  I will look forward to the meetings where Baker and the Browns beat Burrows Bengals in the years ahead.   I hope Burrow wins this weekend, it'll be fun to beat the best next year.

GO BROWNS!