At 2-5-1 after a 33-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 28 and in the middle of an unprecedented midseason coaching staff upheaval, the 2018 Cleveland Browns looked to be anything but the team capable of the greatest year-to-year turnaround in franchise history.
But a 5-2 record over the last seven weeks and three-game winning streak have secured the Browns’ greatest ever turnaround, as they are plus-7.5 in wins over last year’s winless campaign.
“The real thing is that the focus of the players and the understanding of especially a young team,” interim coach Gregg Williams said of the biggest catalyst for change. “I have had this opportunity come up before with some other young players where I have been able to help, and we have been able to help them understand that you have to do your job and you have to block out the outside distractions.
“You have to focus and rally together and play for each other. They have done a very good job of not only just doing their job but supporting each other. I think people see that in team execution over individual execution. They have done a very good job with that.”
For the first time since 2002, the Browns swept The Battle of Ohio against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Browns (7-7-1) completed the two-game sweep of the Bengals (6-9) with a 26-18 victory in the 2018 home finale at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland Sunday.
“I don’t ever walk into any game thinking that we can’t win, and I thought that last year,” Williams said. “I thought we played extremely well enough in many of those games to win games, and that is how close and tough the league is. It comes down to anywhere from three to four to four to five plays a game and can anyone of us predict those plays of what they will be before the game?
“No, you can’t. Unless you understand that every, single play is important in the league and that determines the outcome of the game. Now, we are making more of those plays determining outcomes of the game, and then, the more you make, the easier it is to make. The more you make, the easier it is to buy into understanding of ‘This is how we play as a team.’ A team wins the game, not individuals.”
In addition to breaking a 16-year drought of two wins in the same season against the Bengals, the Browns finished the home portion of the schedule against AFC North Division opponents without a loss for the first time since the division’s inception in 2002.
And by doing so, the Browns gave themselves a chance at a winning season for the first time since 2007.
The Browns close out the 2018 season with Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.
“We have to focus on the win,” Williams said. “Even though we are out of it from a playoff perspective, we have to go and do our job. I think we started right off the bat in the locker room talking about the importance of finishing up with a winning season and the importance of doing our job, and also, continuing on with our presence and the way that people feel about us in our own AFC North Division.
“It is about the division. It is about making sure every year that is the No. 1 goal -- winning the division. We have to go about doing what we are supposed to do there.”