A Playoff Berth Is Within Reach For The Browns Following Win Over Jaguars

The New York Times Playoff simulator indicates he Browns are well positioned to earn a playoff berth in the coming weeks

After back-to-back losses to the Broncos and Rams, the Browns' playoff chances were teetering in a very tight AFC Playoff picture. A massive 31-27 win over the AFC South leading Jaguars very much halted that trend this weekend.

With four weeks remaining in the regular season, the Browns now have an 85-percent chance to make the playoffs according to 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.

That figure reflects a 15-percent jump from a week ago, when Cleveland was projected as having a 60-percent chance to make the postseason tournament. That 85-percent is the highest in the AFC among non-division leaders, which is on par with the Browns current position in the conference as the five seed at the moment.

#Browns have slightly higher odds to make the playoffs than the #Steelers after their loss to the Rams yesterday, despite the fact that Pittsburgh currently holds the 5 seed in the current AFC Playoff Picture. pic.twitter.com/SVEUl50t3q

— 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 (@Spencito_) December 4, 2023

Staying in the AFC North specifically, the Ravens playoff odds are nearly 100-percent after avoiding a scare to beat the Rams in overtime on Sunday. Baltimore obviously still maintains the best odds to win the division at a clip of 87-percent, but Cleveland did see their chances of winning the division rise slightly to 12-percent. That can be partially attributed to the Steelers losing their second straight game to New England last Thursday.

Following that loss, Pittsburgh playoff odds took a massive hit from 53-percent to 25-percent and the Bengals now suddenly have the exact same odds to be a playoff team. Those figures reflect just how tough of a division the AFC North has been this year with all four teams over .500. 

Grant Delpit Officially Signs Extension With Browns But Injury Looms Large

If the playoffs started today, three of the four teams would be in the playoffs, with the Bengals being the lone outsider. They're currently on the outside looking because Indianapolis and Pittsburgh win tiebreakers over them.