Browns are knocking on the Playoff Door. It’s time for Joe Flacco to kick it down – Terry Pluto

CLEVELAND, Ohio – This is not the usual Browns story.

First of all, we’re talking … playoffs … yes, playoffs … for real. All the Browns have to do is beat the Jets Thursday night at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

That’s it. Win Thursday. Playoffs.

Playoffs for a Browns team that takes a 10-5 record into Thursday night. Playoffs for a team with Joe Flacco at quarterback. Playoffs for a team that many Browns fans have found easy to love

Playoffs …

It’s fun to write that word in connection with the Browns.

Playoffs …

The Browns are on the verge of the playoffs with Joe Flacco setting franchise records … for Cleveland. No Browns QB has ever thrown more TD passes (10) and for more yards (1,307) in his first four starts than Flacco.

All at the age of 38 years.

ONLY IN CLEVELAND … IN A GOOD WAY

Browns fans, this stuff just doesn’t happen. I’m not saying only in Cleveland. Not anywhere.

A guy at the age of 38 who shows up seemingly out of nowhere during Thanksgiving to save the season? A guy who had no training camp? No offers from any team?

And as the temperature sinks and the colored leaves flutter to the ground, Joe Flacco becomes the hottest QB in the NFL.

“I’ve said it before,” said Jets coach Robert Saleh. “He’s like a Ford pickup truck. You might not like it in the summer – but in the winter months that son of a gun starts humming.”

Forget the pickup analogy. Flacco is driving this offense like it’s a Ferrari.

Before Flacco arrived, the Browns were averaging 21 points a game. With him, it’s 26 points.

It’s 50-yard passes. It’s fearless throws into tight coverage. It’s shaking off interceptions and remaining poised. It’s turning venerable receiver Amari Cooper into a superstar, two classy veterans embracing this special moment.

This is perhaps the most unique “Only In Cleveland” sports story I can recall, because it’s so unexpected … so outrageously wonderful.

WHAT ABOUT THE JETS?

Flacco spent the last three seasons as a backup QB with New York. His record was 1-8 in that span.

Look even closer. Flacco is 3-1 with the Browns with those 10 TD passes.

Saleh and the Jets have to be looking back at the four games Flacco started for them last season. There was Flacco leading the Jets to a 31-30 comeback victory over the Browns – 4 TDs, zero interceptions. In that game he looked much as he has this season in Cleveland.

But his other three Jets starts? All losses. The Jets averaged nine points in those games. Flacco threw one TD pass, three interceptions. The tape from those games was the reason why no teams (including the Browns) had an interest in bringing Flacco to training camp – or adding him to their regular-season rosters when QBs were injured.

He looked old and done.

But now … playoffs? Joe Flacco leading the Browns to the playoffs?

I started to write “Go figure,” but there are times when planets align and things happen that defy logic. The heads of the NFL talent evaluators and analytics specialists must be exploding as they try to explain the Flacco Phenomenon.

The Browns are not in the playoffs yet. Bad things are happening with star kicker Dustin Hopkins out and other injuries.

But I’m staying away from negative thoughts and being haunted by the ghosts of Browns failures past. Right now, I’m Wacko For Flacco. I’m thankful to be writing stories about a defense that plays the way a Browns defense should.

I’m savoring every moment, anxious for the next game to start.

And Thursday … the Browns have a chance to make the dream a reality.