CLEVELAND -- No more looking to future draft picks in November.
No more clamoring for the coaching staff to play more rookie backups.
No more 1 p.m. games with the vicious wind chill of a 10-loss team, something with which Lake Erie can’t even compete.
The Browns are playing meaningful games. Hotly contested, high-stakes football games for at least the next seven weeks, and it’s Nov. 10.
If the Cleveland Browns' sole possession of first place in the AFC North after Week 10 made you clean your glasses, here are a few more fall-off-the-chair realities.
If the NFL Draft were today, the Browns would have anywhere from the 22nd to 26th pick (clustered with Seattle, Green Bay, Indianapolis and Kansas City at 6-3). This is basically where the Steelers and Ravens live every year. Welcome, Cleveland, the water’s warm.
In the past five drafts in which the Browns didn’t move back in the first round or out of it completely, their original slots were as follows: 9, 6, 4, 7, 3.
That totals 29, which probably won’t be the Browns’ number by the end of this season, but they are at least sniffing that possibility.
Vegas has the Browns in reasonable positioning for a postseason run. Bovada.lv marks Cleveland at 50-1 odds for this year’s Super Bowl, which ties Cincinnati for 16th in the league and is two spots below the Steelers and Ravens.
Those odds affirm Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel’s comments that the AFC North is basically a 'jumbled' mess right now -- every team is two games above .500 for the first time since 1935, as Rich Eisen pointed out.
Each team has exactly two divisional wins, too, with the Browns hosting the Bengals at home and finishing the season at Baltimore.
The late-season schedule does Cleveland little favors -- no more Jacksonville-Oakland-Tampa stretches -- but doesn’t present any untouchable games, either. After Houston (4-5) this weekend, the Browns finish with four of six on the road, yet arguably the toughest game, a Dec. 7 matchup with Indy, will be at home.
At least three of the December opponents -- Indy, Cincinnati, Carolina, Balitmore -- will be playing for something in December.
Left guard Joel Bitonio knows this but is dousing any playoff talk with clarity and perspective. For once, fans can enjoy the next-game-up mentality with the players, instead of looking to the future out of habit.
"If you look at our schedule we have some really tough games coming up," Bitonio said. "It’s going to be a challenge, but I think because this team’s 6-3 and tied for first place right now, I think we’re in a good position moving forward, but it won’t mean anything if we come out and lay and egg the next couple weeks."