CLEVELAND — Hi everybody from "The House that is Very Happy."
On this Thursday night, the Browns beat the New York Jets 37-20, but so much more — the Browns are in the playoffs. They have secured their playoff spot, as they go to 11-5 on the year overall, but how about this: 8-1 at home.
That's the sign of a good team, to be dominant at home and then just get better and better on the road. I think the latter is what's in front of the Browns, but they have been pretty close to unbeatable playing at Browns Stadium.
We came into Thursday night knowing that, if the Browns won, they were into the playoffs, but it got started off on kind of a shaky beginning, as we found out that wide receiver Amari Cooper was not going to be able to play in the game.
Here's what happened there: He had a sore heel and ankle, but you also had a slick, wet field, and the Browns deemed that it would be a little bit too chancy to put him out there. After all, they want Cooper for the long haul, so he would not play.
So with all of those other injuries — and now you take out Amari Cooper — what were they going to be able to do offensively, especially without their best wide receiver? Well, Joe Flacco does what Joe Flacco does since he's gotten to Cleveland: He threw for over 300 yards, three touchdowns, one pick, but the three touchdowns really got the Browns off to a big start.
They hit the Jets offensively with a couple of haymakers early in the game: Jerome Ford, Kareem Hunt, Elijah Moore, Jerome Ford again on a thrilling 51-yard catch-and-run for an incredible touchdown, and the Browns looked to have the Jets blown out.
But Browns mistakes kind of kept the Jets in the game, and in the second half, the Browns' offense really went flat and they started to turn the ball over by way of fumbling too many times. But the Jets could never really get ahold of making a deep run because that Browns defense was so good and so stubborn, topped off by a big interception by the rookie free agent safety out of Ohio State Ronnie Hickman, who picked the ball off and ran with it 30 yards for a touchdown. It lit up Browns Stadium.
Then, yes, there were sacks (Myles Garrett got one) and big plays defensively by JOK and huge stops on fourth-down-and-very-short for the New York Jets. In short, the Browns' defense is... great. They are elite.
And the Browns now get exactly what they need: time off. They get the mini-bye after playing on Thursday night, one game left to play in the regular season against the Cincinnati Bengals a week from Sunday, and then off to the postseason.
Will they be the No. 5 seed in the AFC, or are there still some hopes that Baltimore will falter down the stretch and give up a couple of games and the Browns could steal the AFC North, and perhaps even become the No. 1 seed in the AFC overall?
That is still all out there, but rest easy, everybody. The Browns are in the playoffs with a memorable night at the stadium, as they did it in front of their fans who ready to go from early on Thursday all through this tight ballgame that the Browns finally separated and won.
They won the game they needed to have, and now are in the postseason. Have a great weekend; happy new year. It's looking good.
Listen to Jimmy's calls from the game in the player below: