精东影业

It鈥檚 a happy day for sports fans in Cleveland. With a 24-22 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, the Browns punched their ticket to the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2002.

Long-suffering fans now have at least a week to savor the moment.

鈥淲e finally made it back to the playoffs,鈥� said Vanessa Clever, a lifelong Browns fan who鈥檚 thrilled after Sunday鈥檚 victory. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 No. 1 for us. We just want to go all the way.鈥�

Not long ago, that sort of football optimism was hard to imagine in Cleveland. In 2017, the Browns finished two years of historic ineptitude by not winning even one game, compiling a woeful two-season record of 1-and-31.

After that season, lifelong fan Chris McNeil organized a mock-championship 鈥渃elebration鈥� 鈥�  a 鈥減erfect season鈥� parade, complete with buses and cars converted into floats to circle the stadium marking the team鈥檚 season-long losing streak.

鈥淵ou know, you get to your lowest point, it鈥檚 like anything else in life, sometimes before you can come back you really have to bottom out,鈥� McNeil said.

But it was more than a two-season slump. For the last two decades, Browns victories have been hard to come by.

鈥淵ou know it was just a deplorable, cockamamie, slip on a banana peel organization,鈥� said former Plain Dealer sportswriter and columnist Bill Livingston.

He rattled off a list that every diehard Browns fan can recite: almost yearly firing of coaches and management, bad draft picks like quarterback Johnny Manziel, miscue after miscue. But that seems to have changed now.

Rookie head coach Kevin Stefanski is helping turn Baker Mayfield into franchise quarterback, and Stefanski himself posted more wins this season than any first-time head coach in the team鈥檚 history, surpassing even Paul Brown himself. An 11-5 season and a trip to the playoffs has Cleveland fans in a justifiable state of euphoria.

鈥淚 tell you what, it鈥檚 really indescribable,鈥� McNeil said.

Outside Dave鈥檚 Market in Shaker Square, Linda Walker was draped in Browns gear from her shirt to her hat to her necklace of orange and brown beads and dog bones. There was much celebrating among her family of Browns fans Sunday night, she said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a long time. We鈥檝e been cheated. These guys work hard,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淭his is everything. This is awesome!鈥�

This year the Browns will play hated Rust Belt rivals, the Steelers, again 鈥� one week after beating them to get into the playoffs in the first place.

Lifelong Browns fan Alex Wilcox said he has faith the Browns can win against the Steelers because this isn鈥檛 the same Browns team of years past.

鈥淚 think that teams used to play us like we was a practice team,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut now they respect us a little bit more.鈥�

Veteran Steelers quarterback and Findlay, Ohio, native Ben Roethlisberger didn鈥檛 play Sunday, but is expected to start in next Sunday鈥檚 playoff game at Heinz Field. He鈥檚 been the Browns鈥� nightmare for years, amassing a 25-3-1 record against the Browns since 2004, and a perfect 15-0 record on the Steelers鈥� home turf.

But Roethlisberger doesn鈥檛 scare Annaliesa Henley. She鈥檚 been a Browns fan since she moved to Cleveland 40 years ago.

鈥淗e means nothing to us,鈥� Henley said. 鈥淛ust keep your confidence up, keep playing hard, and put your faith in God, and keep your eyes on the football! Keep your eyes on the football and on their quarterback so you can sack him as many times as you can.鈥�

As of Monday, the Steelers are the 4-point favorites over the Browns for Sunday鈥檚 playoff game.

ideastream鈥檚  Annie Wu contributed to this report.