I'm glad today's game with the Bengals means absolutely nothing.  The Browns sealed up a good playoff position and await their opponent from the AFC South.  The Bengals are finishing a season they would rather forget. Joe Burrow injured and in this division that's a fatal blow most of the time.  We had the same issue, but we eventually found Joe Flacco and he made our season.

Now the post season begins, and it's a different kind of football.  A faster, for more physical game and for the Browns, no matter how far we go it will have to be done on the road.  The Browns seems to be built for this, as defense travels well and that's the card the Browns are going to have to play to advance.  Flacco will do his thing and the Browns will score points, but on the road the fate of the Browns will start and end with the defense.

The Browns do have a card that won't get a lot of play on TV or in the press. There will be three teams in the playoffs that have an NFL Champion QB's trying for another title.  The Rams with Mathew Stafford, the Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes and the Browns with Flacco.  As much hype as other QB's get, they are not NFL champions.  None of the three are going to win MVP this year, but it doesn't matter, it's winning time now. Those awards are for ESPN talking heads to yammer about at nauseam, the rest of us are trying to win a title.

I'm not saying one of these three guys is going to win it all, but I will say it wouldn't surprise me either.  Because post season football is hard to break through and get it done. When you have players and coaches that have been there and done it before, you have a definite intangible advantage the others do not, no matter how great their season has been.

Ever notice how it kind of works in the NFL?  You become a good team and make the playoffs and then lose in the Wild Card Round.  The next year you may get to the Conference Championship Game, maybe lose. The next year it's your turn to get to the Superbowl.  Sounds like a silly formula, but it works out that way a lot of the time.  For some teams it's different though.  The Chiefs got it done differently, but they have Andy Reid as head coach which is a big deal - one of the best ever. The Patriots with Belichick, he had been there with the Giants a couple times prior to the Pats.

The Browns have Stefanski whose had a good season overall but he should thank his lucky stars, as it is the result of our seemingly bad luck.  We would not be here if we were still under the expensive plan that has gone awry for two straight years.  RIGHT NOW he has a champion in Joe Flacco executing his offense which is FAR better suited for Flacco.  Flacco knows how to win these kind of games, and doesn't have the luxury of time.  He's 39 and more than likely is playing his final few games the the Browns.  If coach allows Joe to be Joe and the defense holds up their end of the bargain, the Browns have a good shot to beat anyone.  Never underestimate a talented pro who's facing his possible final chance.

The Browns are in an enviable position with Flacco, he's solely here to win a title. That's the only reason at his age he's lacing' em up.  In a football sense he's making peanuts, as his next big pay day will come next spring somewhere else.  Right how, he's the most mature veteran Superbowl Champion QB in the league, and the best QB we've had here is decades. 

And If we win the Superbowl or if he throws a pick six that ends our dream, I'm fine with wherever he takes us. We flat out would not be here without him, it's just that simple. It's a shame the organization was living in some dream world and didn't call him 6 weeks earlier.  No one that played for the Browns this season would have us here  -  and as feared as we are. 

For the few more games we have him -  I'm with Joe!