Dawgs By Nature
It is Week 16, and the Cleveland Browns fell 0.5 spots to 29.1 overall on average in this week’s power rankings. Among rankings, it’s pretty unanimous now that the Raiders are the worst team in football. After that, it’s a mixture of opinions as to whether the next worse team is the Browns, Jets, Giants, or Titans. What a lovely spot to be in again.
Here is a summary of how the Cleveland Browns are viewed across mainstream media outlets in NFL Power Rankings heading into Week 16 of the 2025 NFL season.
The good news: Myles Garrett should break the sack record. The bad news: This team stinks.
Extension candidate: Linebacker Devin Bush
After a severe knee injury in 2020 upended the beginning of his career, Bush has had a resurgence in Cleveland over the past two seasons. The 2019 first-round pick has started 24 games with the Browns, and he’s on pace for his first 100-tackle season since he was a rookie in Pittsburgh. Bush will be a free agent after the season, but he has helped provide stability in the middle of Cleveland’s defense while Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has been injured.
Two things I’ll be tracking in the Browns’ final three games: whether Myles Garrett can break the sack record and whether they can win another game. If we take owner Jimmy Haslam at his word from back in July, once again going “3-14 won’t cut it.” The Browns sit at 3-11, with the Bills and Steelers coming to Cleveland in the next two weeks before the regular-season finale at Cincinnati. The entire franchise feels like it’s again at a flashpoint, with Shedeur Sanders taking a step back on Sunday against the Bears, throwing three interceptions (even if one wasn’t his fault). Kevin Stefanski might be a two-time Coach of the Year, but the wind is blowing pretty stiffly in his (and his team’s) face right now.
The Browns crashed back to earth with Shedeur Sanders in the chill of Chicago. Their offensive line and shaky running game aren’t helping and they need to add a lot more weaponry last season. Without Myles Garrett, they wouldn’t be relevant.
The Browns were beyond bad in a 31-3 loss to the Bears on Sunday. According to Aaron Schatz of FTN Fantasy, the Browns posted the 11th worst DVOA score in any game since 1978. Shedeur Sanders was a big part of the problem. He had a poor game Sunday. That doesn’t mean we should make sweeping judgments on Sanders’ career. He’s a fifth-round rookie on a bad team. He’ll have good days, like Week 14, and some bad days. It’s OK to let it all play out slowly, with realistic expectations.
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