Detroit Lions are living the NFL playoff dream Cleveland Browns are still chasing | Ulrich
DETROIT — The ubiquitous gray clouds hanging over a Rust Belt city on a frigid January afternoon.
The combination of black slush and cookies-and-cream snow pressed against curbs.
The scent of rock salt permeating the air.
Squint enough while daydreaming and those blue and silver jerseys spotted on Woodward Avenue can maybe, just maybe, become reminiscent of orange and brown.
Snap back to reality. It's time to turn right onto State Street and find the entrance of the 1001 Woodward Parking Garage.
But wait. There's commotion.
A woman donning a white Browns jersey and a few men clad in Detroit Lions gear are on opposite sides of Woodward yelling at each other. “Go Lions” can be heard amid indistinct shouting.
Is this another hallucination?
No, it's legit. The No. 24 on the woman's back has been verified. A Nick Chubb enthusiast is roaming the streets of downtown Detroit a few hours before an NFC divisional-round playoff game between the Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and she's refusing to take crap from anybody.
Watch out for the stiff-arm!
The irony is glaring. Browns and Lions fans should consider each other kindred spirits because they have so much in common.
No one else knows what it's like to battle for “The Barge” in “The Great Lakes Classic” or to finish a season with a record of 0-16, right?
The Browns and Lions were rivals in the 1950s, when they faced each other in four NFL championship games. The Lions won three of those meetings and collected a total of four titles before the first Super Bowl ended the 1966 season. The Browns, of course, own eight titles from the pre-Super Bowl era.
Nowadays, it would be more appropriate for Browns and Lions fans to form a support group than to bicker.
The Browns, Lions, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars are the only four of the NFL's 32 teams without a Super Bowl appearance.
Yet, the Lions (14-5, including 2-0 in the playoffs) have a chance to disappear from that list this weekend because they will visit the San Francisco 49ers (13-5, 1-0) for the NFC championship game at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
The AFC title game between the Kansas City Chiefs (13-6, 2-0) and host Baltimore Ravens (14-4, 1-0) is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. Sunday.
The two conference champions will play in Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Yes, there will be natural feelings of jealousy in Northeast Ohio if the Lions advance to the Super Bowl before the Browns, and dome envy already exists among many Cleveland fans familiar with Ford Field.
Browns fans have endured football hell, so it's understandable if they want to cross arms, stomp feet and view the rest of the postseason with disdain.
But for Browns fans open to adopting a rooting interest in one of the four teams alive in the playoffs, they should choose the Lions in a landslide.
No one feels sorry for the 49ers. They have prevailed in five Super Bowls, tied for second most among all NFL franchises. The Chiefs just won it all to end the 2019 and 2022 seasons. And the AFC North rival Ravens used to be a team called ... well, you know.
The 2023 Browns became one of the best feel-good stories in the NFL when quarterback Joe Flacco joined the team in November and led it on a four-game December winning streak despite the roster being ravaged by injuries. The Browns went 11-6 in the regular season.
But in a 45-14 wild-card playoff loss on Jan. 13 in Houston, a Browns defense with a history of road woes let everyone down when it mattered most, and a team with a league-high 37 giveaways in the regular season maintained the trend with two third-quarter Flacco interceptions returned for touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the Lions have been living a playoff dream the Browns are still chasing.
The Lions earned their first playoff win in 32 years when they defeated the visiting Los Angeles Rams 24-23 on Jan. 14 in the wild-card round. The victory allowed the Lions to host two games in the same postseason for the first time in franchise history. They capitalized Sunday in the divisional round with a 31-23 triumph over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The electric atmosphere at Ford Field was similar to the one at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Dec. 28, when the Browns clinched a postseason berth with a 37-20 win over the New York Jets on “Thursday Night Football.”
When the Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 48-37 on Jan. 10, 2021, in a wild-card game at Heinz Field, they ended a 26-year drought without a playoff victory.
An adjacent streak still exists, though. The Browns haven't hosted a postseason game since Jan. 1, 1995.
All of this led Browns General Manager Andrew Berry to open his season wrap-up news conference Monday by explaining he has been recently tracking the Lions' playoff run more than any other NFL storyline. Berry said monitoring the Lions has made him wonder what a playoff game on Cleveland's lakefront would be like.
The wait continues. For the next few weeks, though, it makes sense for Browns fans to live vicariously through their Lions counterparts.
Aside from the relatable trauma, there are Lions with ties to the Cleveland sports scene.
Barberton native and Lions lineman John Cominsky is the ultimate easy-to-cheer-for guy. He plays on a defense coordinated by former Browns assistant secondary coach Aaron Glenn.
Wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones joined his hometown Lions on Oct. 31 because the Browns traded him. Ex-Browns players Steve Heiden and Hank Fraley coach tight ends and offensive linemen for the Lions, who will appear in their second conference title game in club history and their first since the 1991 season.
Former Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett is the Lions' assistant QBs coach.
John Cominsky comes through for Lions: 'It's once in a lifetime': Barberton High School graduate and Detroit are one win away from the Super Bowl
Then there's Massillon legend Chris Spielman working in Detroit's front office with former Browns GM John Dorsey. In 2019, Dorsey hired Freddie Kitchens to coach Cleveland instead of Dan Campbell, who also interviewed for the job along with Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and others. In 2021, the Lions began Campbell's tenure as their coach 0-10-1. They continued to ascend, though, and won the NFC North this season. What's not to like about fiery football guy Campbell?
Speaking of buddy boys, some Browns fans may have jumped on Detroit's playoff bandwagon last weekend when the Lions eliminated the Bucs and Baker Mayfield, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2018 and the only quarterback to win a playoff game with Cleveland during its expansion era.
Whatever the reason, an alliance is logical, at least for now.
Instead of exchanging taunts in public, Browns and Lions fans ought to be able to live in harmony until their favorite teams meet in the, ahem, Super Bowl.
Andrew Berry wants Nick Chubb to return: GM doesn't want 'that carry in Pittsburgh' to be running back's last with the Cleveland Browns
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Browns seek home playoff experience Detroit Lions earned
