Joel Bitonio relishes Browns playoff berth after years 'where there was no hope'

CLEVELAND — Joel Bitonio looked and sounded like a man doomed to a certain fate.

It was Christmas Eve, 2022. The Browns had just seen their playoff hopes officially go into the deep freeze with a home loss to the New Orleans Saints, and the All-Pro left guard was wearing his emotions on his face in a way he rarely does.

“Yeah, we have had too many games that we have not been able to close out this year — Jets, Falcons, Chargers and this game — four or five games," Bitonio said that frigid day last December. "It is the NFL. Games are close. Good teams find a way to win those close ones and find a way to close the door, and we have not done that enough this year, which you see in our record.”

A year and a couple of days made a world of difference, for both the Browns and their longest-tenured player.

Thursday night, Bitonio was a man who was realizing a different fate. The Browns (11-5) clinched just their third playoff berth since they returned to the NFL in 1999 with a 37-20 win over the New York Jets.

For Bitonio, the excitement of the moment was also colored by the scars of so many disappointments since coming into the league with the Browns in 2014.

"No, for me it's almost like a whole career goes," Bitonio said after Thursday's playoff-clincher. "You remember the 0-16, 1-15, 3-13 years where there was no hope at the time. When you look back on it, it's like, hey, we're turning this team into a winning culture and we're expected to compete and go to the playoffs every year, and it is cool to be a part of that."

It's not the first time Bitonio has been a part of a Browns playoff team. However, there's nothing about this journey to the postseason and the previous one he went through in 2020 that are quite the same.

For one thing, that playoff berth was secured by essentially beating the Pittsburgh Steelers backups in front of roughly 12,000 fans in Cleveland due to COVID restrictions. Beyond that, once the Browns got in, Bitonio wasn't able to even play in the AFC Wild Card Game against the Steelers because of a positive COVID test.

Bitonio was able to return in time for the Browns' AFC Divisional Round game at the Kansas City Chiefs. However, that's where the journey also came to an end.

"Oh, yeah, it was disappointing," Bitonio said of the 2020 experience. "Obviously the guys stepped up there and I got to play in the playoffs after that. We didn't win that one in Kansas City, but you want a chance at it every year, but it was definitely disappointing. A little bittersweet last time, so hopefully we can just keep this one sweet."

The Browns still have one more game to play before the playoffs officially begin, next weekend at the Cincinnati Bengals. Depending on what happens in Sunday's Miami Dolphins at Baltimore Ravens game, they could be playing for a chance at an AFC North title or they could essentially have a chance to treat the Bengals game like a preseason game.

If it's the latter scenario, there's always a chance Bitonio, who's fought a back issue the last three weeks, could get that rare regular-season gameday off. The trade-off in that specific case would be a chance to be a little bit fresher for wherever the Browns' postseason journey begins, be it Jacksonville, Indianapolis or Houston.

Bitonio isn't thinking that far ahead. He, like the rest of the Browns players, have bought into the mantra of "1-0 each week" that coach Kevin Stefanski has preached all season long.

It's allowed the Browns to overcome an injury list that should've crippled them months ago. Instead, they've overcome those to get back into the playoffs.

Bitonio, if any of his younger teammates need some perspective, can tell them these kind of moments are the furthest things from guarantees. It's why he's stressing striking while the iron is hot.

"I think the guys are focused on the task at hand," Bitonio said. "We're taking it one week at a time. But we only have so many opportunities as this team. You only have one opportunity with this team because NFL is such a turnover league where guys are going to be gone no matter what. So we only have one opportunity with this team, and we're going to try and make the most out of it."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Joel Bitonio relishes Browns playoff berth after years with 'no hope'