NFL: Cleveland in play-offs for the first time since 2002

The Cleveland Browns have qualified for the National Football League play-offs for the first time since 2002, after the final day of the regular season on Sunday. Thanks to a 24-22 win against Pittsburgh, the Browns ended the longest non-play-off period for an NFL franchise. For eighteen years, the Ohio team racked up setbacks, collected coaches and other bad draft picks, and built a reputation as one of the worst teams in NFL history.

But under the impetus of their young quarterback Baker Mayfield, 1st choice of the 2018 Draft, the Browns have found color this season to finish in 7th place in the AFC with eleven wins and five losses.

The Super Bowl is still a long way off, but hope is reborn for the franchise crowned four-time NFL champion (1950, 1954, 1955 and 1964) before the creation of the Super Bowl.

The Browns will be opposed in the 1st round on January 11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers who will be this time, unlike the last regular season game without a stake for them on Sunday, led by their iconic quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

The play-offs will take place without the New England Patriots, the NFL benchmark franchise with six titles since 2001 but weakened by the departure of Tom Brady to Tampa Bay in the offseason. Brady will participate at 43 with the Buccaneers in the play-offs and will challenge Washington, another surprise team of the season, in its stadium in the first round.

Kansas City, winner of the last Super Bowl, and Green Bay are exempt from the 1st round after finishing first in the AFC and NFC respectively and could meet for an explosive Super Bowl on February 7 in Tampa, Florida.