Clevelanders are conditioned to being miserable sports fans, always waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it shows.
This team has showed improvement every single week, and for as much as we shit all over the defense (and yes, their secondary is heartburn-inducing), they're a top ten rush defense, top ten in takeaways, and top ten in turnover differential. They've got the best 1-2 combo at running back in the NFL and have pretty consistently been a top five (including plenty of time at the top) rushing offense. Baker Mayfield - for as much as people (myself included) have criticized him - has a 3:1 TD to interception ratio and hasn't thrown a pick in over a month.
They just beat the brakes off one of last year's AFC finalists, a team that most people have pegged as a deep playoff contender. People continue to move the goalposts on this team and it's annoying. Last week was a prove it game. Now that wasn't good enough, so tonight is a prove it game.
Their negative point differential is from two losses that occurred early in the season. This is clearly a much-improved team. Whether or not they're serious contenders in the playoffs is debatable, but they stand as good a chance as anybody once they get there. If people refuse to accept that, then let them.