2023 NFL season, Week 17: What We Learned from Browns' win over Jets on Thursday night

1. Browns win sloppy game, clinch playoff spot thanks to explosive plays. The headline is that Cleveland is in the postseason for only the third time since 2002, but the way it did it won't award the Browns bonus style points. The 37-20 win over the Jets Thursday was by no means a work of art, but the Browns did make game-changing plays in all three phases. It just was a lot harder than it probably needed to be. They racked up 367 yards in the first half and they led by 20 points twice, but the Jets kept hanging around, mostly thanks to three Cleveland turnovers. David Njoku had a 113-yard first quarter but lost a fumble on the third play of the second quarter. Joe Flacco threw an ill-advised pick-six when there was no play to be made. Both times, the Browns had chances to put it away but couldn't. After a scoreless third quarter, the Jets were just hanging around, and the Browns kept letting them. Pierre Strong Jr. coughed up a fumble pretty easily in the fourth, and the Browns' defense was caught with 12 men on the field, wiping out a takeaway and gifting the Jets a field goal. After that, they ran out of gas, but the Browns could -- and probably should -- have put the Jets away sooner. And more cleanly.

2. Are the Jets really one Aaron Rodgers away from competing? It's admittedly unfair to pose this question through the lens of a single performance, but watching the Jets get undressed in the first half -- even with the Browns making their share of mistakes -- begs the question of whether the Jets have the roster they thought they had in August, when there was so much excitement heading into the season. The defense was undressed by the Amari Cooper-less Browns, allowing 376 yards – more than they'd allowed in all but