Rest of the schedule looks brutal

[Bengalstripes9]

I agree. The next 8 games are all against quality opponents. There are no New York Jets, gimme type games on the schedule. Losing to the Bears and Jets could be huge at the end of the year in terms of the standings.

This team was in first place in that AFC. They had the chance to prove that they were for real against the Jets (and Browns). They are not for real.
This team has some major areas of weakness that need to be addressed in a short amount of time if they want to make a deep run.

They have been exposed as very weak in short yardage, pressure situations. They've been great intermediate and at times going deep. They're amazing out wide. The Browns are much better in every other position group (besides maybe QB and runningback).

The run blocking is inconsistent. The pass protection is questionable a lot of the time. Too top it off, Burrow just isn't there yet--and the pass rush has a big impact on this. He forces it a lot, and needs to get better in this area--and make better decisions to limit the turnovers. The lack of a consistent run game has an impact. A run game helps a QB tremendously. Just look at two QBs in Baker Mayfield and Tannenhill. Above average QBs (IMO) that look great because the offense caters to them.

I mentioned in the preseason that we would miss Bernard in the pass game blocking department, and I believe this to be a valid concern. The backs have been atrocious in this aspect this year.

You could also make the argument that the coaching needs to improve as far as play calling (mainly on O); but the play calling is easier with a dominant oline like the Browns have.

The defense needs to stiffen up as well. Covering backs. Run defense against elite run blocking teams. The secondary has been inconsistent at times, and they need another pass rusher to top off the pass rush. Ossai could be that player next year.

This team could still make a run at the playoffs, but I don't see this team being an AFC champion. The young players on the offensive line would have to improve quite a bit for this to happen in my opinion. We'll see though. I think we'll still have an entertaining rest of the year. But we obviously need to temper expectations. We can beat good teams. But we aren't consistent enough, and have some major weaknesses/areas that they need to improve drastically.

I think another successful draft and offseason coupled with the players maturing should allow us to hopefully make a run next year--but I'm not expecting it this year yet.