As the year comes to a close we already have a pretty good idea of what teams definitely are not going to be in the playoffs. I feel as though there are some usual suspects as far as disappointment is concerned such as the Redskins not being good again and nobody saw the Miami Dolphins even winning a single game. They did a lot better than expected in my opinion. However, there were some true disappointments in 2019 and a lot of people had their expectations pretty high for such as the Rams starting out 3-0 and then nothing really clicked from that point forward.
However, there is one big standout in my mind as the biggest disappointment of the entire year and that is....
The Cleveland Browns
It's not easy to be a Browns fan. Cleveland hasn't been to the playoffs in 16 years and when this season comes to a close they will be the not-so-proud recipients of another record and that is this will be the 12th year in a row that they will finish with a losing record.
It really isn't surprising when the Browns are not a good team... it's kind of expected. However, this year following the tremendous hype during the offseason the Browns secured Odell Beckham Jr. and also signed promising Running Back Kareem Hunt.
The enthusiasm in Cleveland was electric and there were speculative articles that were stating that with these two picks, a relatively solid defense, and the addition of a new head coach could make the Browns the new top franchise in the NFL.
In the preseason Cleveland was looking good, winning 3 of 4 games and barely losing to the Buccs by just one point.
Then the regular season began and the air got taken out of everyone's tires in Cleveland as they went on to go to 2-6 before any sort of meaningful rally looked possible.
Offseason elation started turning into home field boos from their own fans as the Browns simply couldn't make anything work. There was talk about jinxing the season with all the optimism and of course the superstition kicks in. Are the Browns just a cursed team?
They face the Cincinatti Bengals in their final game on Dec 29th and while this game will not be at home, it is probably going to be a rather inconsequential win for the Browns as the Bengals are likely the worst team in the NFL with only a single win under the belt.
I feel bad for the Cleveland fans, they deserve a break and it finally looked like they were going to get one this year but instead, it appears as though they just can't make it work. They've been the whipping boys of the NFL for almost my entire adult life and just can't seem to get back on track.