CLEVELAND — Chants of «Fla-cco, Fla-cco» cascaded down from the crowd Thursday night as the Cleveland Browns officially punched their ticket to the playoffs — and the party in the stands carried over into the locker room afterward.
Led by quarterback Joe Flacco, the Browns (11-5) defeated the New York Jets 37-20 to clinch their first postseason appearance since 2020, and only their third since 1999. «Pretty special night for this organization,» Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski said. «Pretty special night for the fans out there.» Before an electric atmosphere, the Browns jumped on New York early and never relinquished control.
Flacco threw three touchdown passes in the first half, including a 7-yard strike to running back Jerome Ford on the opening drive.
Flacco passed for 296 yards in the first half, the most in any half in his career, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.