With a 37-20 win over the New York Jets on Thursday night, the Cleveland Browns clinched a playoff berth for just the third time since their franchise rejoined the NFL in 1999.
Even more remarkable is two of those three postseason appearances have come in the past four seasons under head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Adding another layer of drama to that improbable mark is the fact that the Browns are being led by Joe Flacco, a 38-year-old former Super Bowl MVP, who prior to joining the Browns couldn’t even get a workout for a team.
Joe Flacco Has Been A Lifesaver For Cleveland Browns
Flacco has been a lifesaver for the Browns, who lost starter Deshaun Watson for the season to a broken shoulder following a huge AFC North division road win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9. Sitting at 7-5 and teetering in the AFC playoff race, Browns brass reached out to Flacco, who’s led the team to four consecutive wins and a playoff berth.
Stefanski told reporters in his postgame interview, that the accomplishment was a “Pretty special night for this organization. Pretty special night for the fans out there. They were ready to roll from the jump. They were huge tonight,” the leading candidate for NFL Coach of the Year, said. “Huge all season. So appreciate that from our crowd. With us through it all.”
Browns Make History While Making Postseason
In qualifying for the postseason the Browns became the first team in NFL history to do so while using four different starting quarterbacks. We’ve seen a backup win a Super Bowl, as the Giants’ Jeff Hostetler did in 1990, and even more recently when Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017. The unheralded backup won MVP honors.
But to have four different guys start under center in a single season and still have 11 wins and a playoff berth is a real credit to Stefanksi and his leadership in the midst of adversity.
The 2020 NFL Coach of the Year, who’s got a real shot at a second award, has shown some real stones with some of his decisions this season, none bigger than turning the keys of the offense over to Flacco.
Stefanski Turning Browns Into Consistent Contenders
Not only has Stefanski turned a one dormant franchise into a Super Bowl contender, but he’s also given the fans in Cleveland the most hope they’ve had since the late Marty Schottenheimer and Bernie Kosar were losing heartbreak playoff games from 1985-88.
That’s when the team made four consecutive playoff appearances and came literally one drive away from Super Bowl appearances in 1986 and 1988, each time losing to the Broncos on infamous plays known as “The Drive” and “The Fumble,” plays that cemented Denver Broncos legend John Elway as one of the most clutch performers of his era.
Not since then has this franchise looked anything like a real Super Sunday contender. That is until now, with Stefanski leading a good offense and first-year defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz leading the top defensive unit in the league.
