Cleveland Browns winning ugly these days and that’s okay

It hasn’t been pretty but the Cleveland Browns have already won more games than last year.

A 16-6 loss followed by 10-7 and 22-17 victories. In their last three games, the Cleveland Browns have scored a combined 38 points and allowed 40 points. Prior to that, Kevin Stefanski’s club came away with a 37-34 victory at Cincinnati. The Browns just wrapped up a three-game homestand and weather certainly played a big of a factor in that stretch.

Cleveland’s offense has totaled a combined two touchdowns in its last three outings. That’s in stark contrast to the win over the Bengals, in which quarterback Baker Mayfield threw five touchdown passes. And after back-to-back games in which the Browns were held below the century mark, the club has responded with a combined 469 rushing yards vs. the Raiders (101), Texans (231) and Eagles (137).

Entering Week 12, only the Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals were averaging more rushing yards per contest this year. The two-headed monster of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt (via Scott Patsko of Cleveland.com) — both currently healthy — has teamed for 1,219 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. After missing the previous four games, Chubb has run for a combined 240 yards and one score on 39 carries.

Here’s the bottom line. The Browns own a 7-3 record and have already surpassed last season’s victory total of six. A win at Jacksonville would give the club its first non-losing season since the club finished with a winning record (10-6) back in 2007. That year, the club missed out on the postseason due to a tiebreaker.

Stefanski has the team playing smarter football. A year ago, the 6-10 Browns came up with 20 takeaways but turned over the ball 28 times 23 of those miscues by Mayfield. After 10 games, the club is plus-6 in turnover differential and the second-place team in the AFC North has turned over the ball only 11 times.

Things are certainly looking up for these Cleveland Browns (courtesy of Brandon Little of SI.com), a franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2002. Two of the team’s three losses were by 31-plus points and a big reason the club is still on the minus side of scoring differential (-23). But this is a club that seems to be finding its groove and perhaps at the right time — even if their performance at times is far from an offensive masterpiece.