Just like always, only very different

As Cleveland fans, we are so familiar with the "no no no no...yes!" moments, those moments where you're gripping the arm of your best friend, fingers crossed and rally caps inside out, and the final play of the game goes your way, the celebration unfolds and you can exhale. We know so many of these instances but only because we are the ones watching them happen to other teams on our home field. The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The Rain Delay, The Chad Henne game...it's woven itself into the fabric of what makes Cleveland Cleveland. This is why this Cleveland Browns season feels like the millennial dad who makes a point to take off work frequently and play with his kids more: he's trying to break that generational curse. The pains of the past and the history of hurts have come for this roster and this fanbase and this season, but it will not stop this team from trudging through to victory.To be a Cleveland fan is to know heartbreak fundamentally, nearly genetically. When Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com writes about "what would happen to Deshaun Watson if Joe Flacco leads the Browns to the Super Bowl", as a seasoned vet of many a heartbreak, I needed a knock on my head to unroll my eyes because there's no way this duct-taped and ratchet-strapped version of the Browns could even guarantee a playoff spot at this point, let alone a road warrior path to Las Vegas through the scrummy AFC. Even during the game, as Flacco threw his third interception of the day, we cracked jokes on our Discord ((Check us out here, our #game-thread is really a fun time on Sundays.)) about how Flacco read the article and thought "not gonna be a problem, MKC." But here we are, on a #VictoryMonday, withstanding the crush of another injury to the offensive line as Joel Bitonio's back locked up, those three picks by Flacco, and a near Hail Mary win as time expired.The ability of this team, fueled by cool-as-ice head coach Kevin Stefanski, to take blow after blow to the injury report is healing wounds the Browns faithful never knew existed. Any other year, any time Cleveland had a player writhing around on the ground holding onto a knee or calf muscle, the backup was an overmatched and under-schemed schmoe who was blown up for a sack or stiff-armed into oblivion. This year, the schemes are right, the talent is there even three and four times deep at the positions, and the team is in the thick of a playoff push. I mean, they are on their fourth quarterback of the season, and while Flacco absolutely has moments that he looks entirely like someone signed off the street four weeks ago, he also has moments like the Amari Cooper touchdown throw where only a seasoned vet with a skilled arm is able to make the throw.[embed]https://twitter.com/Browns/status/1736492130028212234?s=20[/embed]Will the winning continue as the hits keep coming? Za'Darius Smith was knocked out of the game in the last few seconds, making an already threadbare defensive line even thinner. The aforementioned back injury to Bitonio puts the onus on Wyatt Teller as the only offensive line starter from Week 1, as even the backup right tackle Dawand Jones is on the IR now. This season has been everything Cleveland is used to, but completely different, with the team squeaking out wins in the last moments from San Francisco, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and now Chicago. All of these teams are still or at the very least were in the playoff hunt at the time of the victory by Cleveland. Is this the year we can finally get some healing on the past hurts? Only time will tell, but Cleveland fans will likely not believe it until it happens.