Despite Shedeur Sanders’ best efforts, the Browns lost for the 10th time this season, resulting in their elimination from playoff contention. Sitting at 3-10 with four games to play, they are no longer capable of advancing. The best they can do is finish 7-10, and the Steelers, currently 7-6, would own any tiebreaker.

In case you’re wondering, the Browns are eliminated from the playoffs because they can only split with the Steelers in head-to-head and have already lost four division games. The Steelers are 3-1 in the division, so will inevitably finish with a better division record. In an unlikely event in which the Steelers, Browns, and Ravens all finished 7-10, Baltimore would advance. In a three-way tie in a division, the total record against all teams involved is considered. The Ravens would be 3-1, the Steelers 2-2, the Browns 1-3. Baltimore already swept Cleveland, so even if the Steelers lost every remaining game and the Ravens lost every game but the finale, the Browns would still not advance.

If everybody finished 7-10, the Bengals would advance.

Now, the Browns do look like they have a little more life with Shedeur Sanders at quarterback. Irrespective of all the circus that comes with him—particularly from media pundits aiming to ride his coattails—he has shown that he is not a fifth-round talent. He still has a lot of maturing—on the field, I’m talking about—to do, but the potential is there. He led four touchdown drives of 50-plus yards and will continue to grow with experience.

But for 2025, the Browns won’t be sniffing the playoffs, though they should be used to being eliminated annually. At least they have Myles Garrett’s pursuit of the single-season sack record to look forward to. That’s the only thing their social media team had to talk about before Sanders took over the starting job.

Now, the question is, does the AFC North have to worry about the Browns as a playoff team in 2026? That’s still a big ask, and we don’t even know what this team will look like by then. Many believe they could part with HC Kevin Stefanski, who may not be entirely sold on Shedeur Sanders. Then again, I don’t think the Browns are totally sold on him, either. They’re using the rest of this season to learn what they have in him.

The Browns have been eliminated from the playoffs in 11 of the past 13 seasons. They have only advanced three times since returning as an expansion team in 1999. And they have only won a playoff game once in that span, albeit against the Steelers in 2020. Most of the time, they have been eliminated around this time of the season, if not earlier. Unsurprising with just four winning seasons in the past 27 years.