What a rollercoaster of a year for the Browns. Ups and downs. Ups and downs. It felt like us fans were on a year long joy ride atop the Millennium Force. The Browns went from laughingstock (not being able to find a coach; firing Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi); to the most popular team in the league; to starting a very respectable 6-3 and being in first place; to ending the season on a 5 game losing streak with questions surrounding the entire organization.

Let’s have a quick look at the year that was:

High points

May 8th: Johnny Manziel gets drafted

Seems like a decade ago. Man, that was fun. Whatever. #NoRegrets

September 14th: Beating the Saints in our home opener on a last second field goal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=361ntOLs2Cc

I’ve been to a ton of Browns games and that was the happiest I’ve ever seen the stadium as it was emptying out.

Even though the Ravens beat us in week 3, this fucking guy stole the show and became an instant Cleveland legend

October 12: Beating the piss out of the Steelers 31-10 at home

November 6th: Beating the Bengals on national TV and subsequently standing alone in first place in the AFC North

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD68Lat4py8

Low Points

 

February 11th: Joe Banner and Michael Lombardi leave the Browns.

In hindsight this wasn’t really a low point but at the time the sky was falling.

May 9th: Josh Gordon gets suspended for the entire season

(suspension would later be reduced to 10 games)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYO1SDhSqos

September 7th: The first Steelers game; Mainly just the first half and this

October 19th: Browns get embarrassed by Jacksonville

A week after beating Pittsburgh by 3 touchdowns, the Browns stink up the joint in Jacksonville and hand the Jaguars their first win of the season

November 30th-Present

It started with the loss to the Bills. Then Indy. Then Cincy. Then Carolina. Then Baltimore. The whole month of December was a roundhouse kick right to the nuts.

Biggest Surprise

Tashaun Gipson

Finished second in the league in interceptions with only ELEVEN games played. Helped anchor one of the better secondaries in the NFL.

Joel Bitonio

Everyone was touting the lineman as the best player the Browns drafted. He was. It’s a sham he missed out on the Pro Bowl.

 Paul Kruger

Followed up a disappointing 2013 season with 11 sacks in 2014. Was a disruptive pass rushing force every game.

The 6-3 start

No one and I mean no once expected the Browns to have any sort of success this season. They especially didn’t think the Browns would be in the hunt for a playoff berth in December… Oh wait. Someone did. And that someone is yours truly.

From our review in September:

 

Biggest Disappointments

The 3 J’s; Josh, Johnny, and Justin

2 first round picks that barely contributed and a Pro Bowl wide receiver that was suspended 10 games and barely contributed. The three ended 2014 on a very sour note.

Billy Cundiff

Shank city. Population: Billy

December

Wake me up when December ends. The Browns season (along with their playoff aspirations) were flushed down the toilet this month.

 

2015 Outlook

Until we find a QB this team will never reach that next step. I don’t know if the QB of the future is on this team (I hope), in the draft, or a free agent. It’ll be interesting to see how Ray Farmer addresses this situation.

There’s never a dull moment with the Browns and 2014 proved that. I expect 2015 to not be any different. Should be fun.