BREAKING NEWS: Browns fans send a strong question to browns head coach stating that Can 2023 Browns Join Short List Of Low Seeded Teams To Make AFC Championship?

The Cleveland Browns have a lot of reasons to think they can have a historic postseason run.

To begin with, they have the best defense in football going into the postseason. By itself, they ought to have a chance in practically every game. Add veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to the mix; he’s been through more battles than anyone and is currently playing some of the finest football of his career. The 38-year-old boasts a 10-5 postseason record, is the MVP and winner of the Super Bowl, and has never dropped a game during Wild Card weekend.

Cleveland’s tenacity is another aspect at work here. After overcoming an absurd amount of injuries, they managed to scrape together an 11-6 record for the season and secure the fifth spot in the AFC.

This ideal storm of circumstances may result in a longer postseason stay for the Browns. But history indicates they will have a difficult time winning the Lombardi Trophy.
Only ten AFC teams that were ranked fifth or sixth in the playoffs have made it all the way to the conference championship game since 1975, when the playoffs consisted of six division winners and two wild card teams to create an eight-team field. The 2019 Tennessee Titans, who defeated Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens and Tom Brady in what turned out to be his final game as a Patriot on Wild Card Weekend, were the latest club to achieve that feat. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs put an end to that run; naturally, they went on to win the Super Bowl that season.

The last time a Wild Card club advanced to conference championship weekend from the AFC was in 2010, which is more than ten years ago. The Jets, who started the postseason as the sixth seed and defeated the Colts and Patriots, had their incredible run ended by the Steelers, who were seeded first.

AFC wild card teams have advanced that far into the playoffs three times in a row, with the Jets squad making up two of those three years. The team actually had a similar run the year before, in 2009, as the fifth seed in the AFC, falling to Indianapolis in the end. The Ravens, who were ranked sixth, achieved a similar result in 2008 when they were defeated by the Steelers, who went on to win the Super Bowl that year.

In related news, the Steelers are still the only AFC club to win the championship game after being picked sixth or lower in the conference since 1975. In order to win their fifth Lombardi Trophy in team history, they accomplished that feat in 2005 by defeating the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 and the Denver Broncos, the No. 2 seed, 34-17 in the AFC Championship.

The 1985 Patriots, who lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, are the only other team with a lower seeding to even make it that far.
Calculating all of this, you find that during a 47-year timeframe, just more than 10 percent of AFC title game participants were teams seeded sixth or lower in the postseason, and less than 1 percent advanced to or won the big game.

While those may not be the finest chances, as NBA legend Kevin Garnett once said, “anything is possible!”

In any case, Brady’s 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who finished as a five-seed or below, were the product of the NFC. The 49ers, seeded six, advanced all the way to the NFC Championship game in 2021; however, they were defeated by the Rams.

The NFC has given a team seeded fifth or lower nine conference championship runs during the same 47-year era, one less than any other conference. But the conference has also produced two lower-seeded victors of the Super Bowl, such as the legendary New York Giants of 2007, who overcame the unbeaten New England Patriots as a five-seed. The other is the 2010 Green Bay Packers, who defeated the aforementioned 2010 Steelers squad after starting the playoffs as a six-seed.
Not only are the Browns gearing up to take on the Texans in their Super Wild Card weekend road trip to Houston, but they are also gearing up to make history. They could have the ideal combination of circumstances to accomplish what only a small number of teams have ever accomplished, as their run to Lombari is scheduled to begin this Saturday.