Super Bowl Weekend Serves of What Browns Haven't Been, Hope to Be
Super Bowl weekend served as a reminder where the Cleveland Browns hope to be. One of a the few teams to have never won or even participated in a Super Bowl, the Browns saw five of their former players including Mitchell Schwartz, Austin Reiter, Andrew Wylie, Cam Erving and Emmanuel Ogbah reach the pinnacle of achievement, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31-20.
If that wasn't enough, the night before, Lamar Jackson won the MVP unanimously, John Harbaugh won coach of the year and Greg Roman won assistant coach of the year from the Baltimore Ravens and former Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalu was announced as part of this year's inductess to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Recent history hasn't been kind to the Browns and the present and future could be far better, but it won't be easy. The Ravens are coming off of a 14-2 season and there's every reason to believe they can remain a dominant team next year. The Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers both appear to be headed for improved seasons in 2020.
For new head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry, it can be daunting, but hopefully steels their determination to get the Browns to the playoffs and further. Last year, Baker Mayfield was co-rookie of the year along with Saquon Barkley and there was a palpable amount of excitement for what the Browns could be, only to have it largely wasted by a combination of injuries, John Dorsey and Freddie Kitchens, which has snuffed out so much of the enthusiasm for the team as they prepare for next season. Now the Browns have a number of holes to address on their roster, but it doesn't change what this team can be with a productive offseason and better coaching.
They still have an incredibly talented young quarterback in Baker Mayfield, one of the best defensive players in the league in Myles Garrett, a great back in Nick Chubb, a talented corner in Denzel Ward and they are all still early in their careers. It's up to this regime to get them to play up to their potential and continue to add talent to this group, so they can deliver on the promise they had last year and carry it over into more success.
