The 6-9 Cleveland Browns were officially eliminated from the playoffs by losing 31-15 to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, but head coach Freddie Kitchens has opted to be optimistic about next season rather than pessimistic about how his year has unfolded.
Kitchens told reporters Monday he feels the Browns are a lot closer to contention than their record conveys:
"Everybody in this building is pulling toward the same direction, and we're close in a lot of areas now. We're really close. Sometimes that gets lost in the shuffle, but we know how close we are, our players understand how close we are and our players understand they can do better and coaches understand how they can do better.