It’s been a lost decade for football in Cleveland.
With Sunday’s loss dropping the Browns to 6-8 this season, they’re now guaranteed not to have a winning record this season. That means they’ll be the only NFL team not to have a single winning season from 2010 to 2019.
The Browns’ record over the decade of 42-115-1 is by far the worst in the NFL. The Jaguars are the next-worst, at 50-108, but at least the Jaguars gave their fans a run to the AFC Championship Game in the 2017 season. Browns fans didn’t have anything close to that to cheer for.
In fact, as disappointing as this season has been, it can still end up the Browns’ best record of the decade: If Cleveland wins its last two games, it will finish 8-8, which would be the Browns’ first non-losing season since 2007.
Amazingly, the Browns have not been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs this year. If they beat the Ravens and Bengals to finish the season 8-8, and if the Steelers lose to both the Jets and Ravens, and if the Titans lose to both the Saints and Texans, and if the Colts lose to the Saints tonight but then beat both the Panthers and Jaguars, the 8-8 Browns would win the tiebreaker for the final wild card spot.
So there’s actually still a chance for the Browns to give this decade a fairy tale ending. But don’t hold your breath.