The Cleveland Browns won as many playoff games in 2023 as did the Carolina Panthers: zero. But they did make the playoffs, which is becoming less shocking over time. For those in that locker room such as Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, however, there is only one surprise. They didn’t go further.
Garrett believes his Browns are a Super Bowl-worthy team—not in the near future but now. Indeed, late last week, he said as much. While no great revelation that a player thinks his team is good, he speaks to the mindset in that building.
“I think if we stay healthy, there’s no reason why we’re not playing this Sunday”, he said on an episode of ESPN First Take on Friday, which was prior to the Super Bowl, and even the NFL Honors ceremony. “It hurts every time I think about [Deshaun Watson] getting hurt, [Nick] Chubb getting hurt, and other big injuries that we had. But I’m proud of the men that we have in the room, proud of the brotherhood that we created”.
The Browns had quite an unfortunate string of injuries, at least on that point there can be no debate. They lost All-Pro RB Nick Chubb in the second game of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Some will argue QB Deshaun Watson getting hurt proved to be a net positive. Nevertheless, that’s a starting quarterback who missed 11 games. Garrett also played through a shoulder injury for much of the second half of the season.
The injuries began early. RT Jack Conklin suffered a knee injury in the opener. LT Jedrick Wills Jr. injured his knee in Week 10. They lost a third tackle in rookie Dawand Jones with yet another knee injury. S Grant Delpit finished the season on the Reserve/Injured List, while minor injuries to the likes of Denzel Ward had a significant short-term effect.
I didn’t even mention the fact that they ultimately started five different quarterbacks, though only Watson suffered an injury. The rest of the quarterback shuffling came about due to performance concerns, but injury caused that instability.
The question is, though, how good would a healthy Browns team have been? QB Joe Flacco won the Comeback Player of the Year Award for his quality play. Would they have been better served with Watson under center, enough to lead them to the Super Bowl?
The Browns had an excellent defense, one of the best in the league, even if not perhaps the best. Chubb’s absence had a huge effect on the running game, though, without any embellishment. They still managed to keep plugging along, but it should be their calling card. It simply isn’t when he’s not out on the field.
Cleveland went 1-1 against the division-winning Baltimore Ravens, finishing two games back in the standings. Could they have won the division otherwise, perhaps claimed the top seed? A more relevant query: could they be as good in 2024 as they think they could have been last year? Perhaps if Myles Garrett can deliver another Defensive Player of the Year performance.
