The Browns could be without their five best players next week
The Cleveland Browns are in the thick of playoff contention with one of the best records in the AFC 11 games into the 2023 NFL season, but they’re facing a pretty horrible situation this week after injuries to several star players.
Not only did the Cleveland Browns lose to the Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon, but several key players suffered injuries during the game including quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, wide receiver Amari Cooper, and defensive end Myles Garrett.
These injuries are in addition to several injuries already hampering this Cleveland Browns team after star players Nick Chubb, Jack Conklin and Deshaun Watson suffered season-ending injuries this season and several other players remain out with other injuries
As our own Ben Axelrod puts it bluntly, “It’s very conceivable the Browns could be without their five best players next week and starting Joe Flacco at quarterback.”
It’s very conceivable the Browns could be without their five best players next week and starting Joe Flacco at quarterback.
Obviously, this is a pretty horrible scenario for a legitimate playoff contender to be in, and the NFL world had a lot to say about it on social media as a result.
This team should be 4-7. They’ve lucked their way into 7-4. Same old Browns.
The Browns continue to be in playoff contention. But if they don’t get healthy soon, their postseason hopes might go down the drain.
Now, some bad news. Winning the division is probably out of the question and finishing off a march to the playoffs won’t be easy as it may have once seemed.
The latest iteration of the New York Times’ playoff simulator – which calculates the percentage chance all 32 teams have of making the playoffs, winning its division, earning the No. 1 seed and winning the Super Bowl – forecasts a much different picture of the Browns playoff odds than it did a week ago.
Following its loss to Denver, Cleveland now sits with a 66-percent chance to make the postseason. Still solid, but a more than 20-percent drop-off from Week 12 where that figured sat just shy of 90-percent.
Additionally, their percent chance to win the AFC North is down to just a minuscule eight-percent following the defeat, while also accounting for a 20-10 win by the Ravens over the Chargers on Sunday Night Football.
