Thursday, December 20, 2007
Playoff scenarios that could play out for the Browns:
Scenario No. 1: Wintering in San Diego.
Outcome: Cleveland wins the No. 6 seed and plays at third-seeded San Diego in a first-round game. A win sends the Browns to top-seeded New England. No. 5 Jacksonville plays at No. 4 Pittsburgh in Round 1.
Chargers path: Beat Denver and Oakland for an 11-5 finish; beat Pittsburgh in tiebreaker for No. 3 seed based on 9-3 record against AFC.
Browns path: Beat Cincinnati to clinch playoff spot but fail to pass the other wild card team even with a closing win over the 49ers.
Jaguars path: Sweep or split games against Oakland and Houston to retain the No. 5 seed.
Steelers path: Win games at St. Louis and Baltimore to clinch the AFC North.
Scenario No. 2: Playoffs come to Cleveland.
Outcome: Cleveland ascends to the No. 4 seed and gets a first-round home game against No. 5 Jacksonville. No. 6 Pittsburgh plays at No. 3 San Diego. The Browns would play at New England in Round 2 if San Diego wins or at Indianapolis if Pittsburgh wins.
Browns path: Beat Cincinnati and San Francisco to finish at 11-5.
Steelers path: Lose at the Rams or Ravens, plausible based on road losses already to the Cardinals and Jets.
Jaguars path: Win out or split against the Raiders and Texans to clinch the No. 5 seed.
Scenario No. 3: Browns-Steelers III — in Cleveland.
Outcome: The Browns vault all the way to the third seed, bumping the Chargers to No. 4, playing host to Pittsburgh in the first round. Beating Pittsburgh would send them to Indianapolis for the second round.
Browns path: Beat the Bengals and 49ers to end 11-5.
Chargers path: Split against Broncos and Raiders to finish 10-6.
Steelers path: Split against the Rams and Ravens to end at 10-6, losing the AFC North crown to Cleveland.
Scenario No. 4: Browns-Steelers III — in Pittsburgh.
Outcome: The Browns lose at Cincinnati but reach the playoffs anyway, landing in a first-round game at Pittsburgh.
Browns path: Remain in the No. 6 spot.
Steelers path: Beat the Rams and Ravens to finish at 11-5.
Chargers path: Split against the Broncos and Raiders, finishing at 10-6 and losing the No. 3 seed to Pittsburgh. Jacksonville would play at San Diego in the first round.
Scenario No. 5: Boulevard of broken dreams.
Outcome: Tennessee passes the Browns for the final AFC playoff spot.
Browns path: Lose to Cincinnati to finish 7-5 against AFC, then beat San Francisco to end at 10-6 overall.
Titans path: Beat the Jets at home and win at Indianapolis to tie Cleveland’s record overall and against AFC. The next tie-breaker, record against common opponents, favors Tennessee.
Other scenarios: The ball takes crazy bounces.
Steeler stunner: Two Pittsburgh losses send Ben Roethlisberger to Findlay for the holidays.
Browns bye-bye: Two losses end the playoff run and put a dark lining on the silver cloud.
Browns back in: Cleveland loses twice to finish at 9-7 but gets in when Tennessee loses to the Jets and Colts.
Jaguars go south: Losses to the Raiders and Texans leave the Jaguars at 10-6, with the No. 6 seed, playing in Round 1 at Pittsburgh, San Diego or Cleveland.
Gatehouse News Service