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TMZSports.com
The Browns are 9.5 point underdogs to the Chiefs, and almost no one believes they’ll dethrone the defending champs (lookin’ at you Chase Claypool) … that is, except NFL legend Joe Thomas.
The 10x Pro Bowler tells TMZ Sports Cleveland will not only beat Kansas City … but they’ll advance to the Super Bowl this season.
Of course, Cleveland’s no stranger to playing the underdog.
Vegas had them on the wrong side of a 5.5 point spread on Sunday … before the team thoroughly whooped the Steelers, ending their season.
So sure, Thomas might be a little biased … but he wholeheartedly believes the Browns will take down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs when they face-off this weekend.
“I think it’s gonna be a close game,” Joe says.
“The Chiefs have played a close game just about, well I think a one-score game every game the last half of the season, and I think with the Browns rushing attack and the way Baker Mayfield is playing with that killer mentality, I like the Browns in this one.”
FYI, the Chiefs — a year after winning the Lombardi trophy — finished the season with the NFL’s best record, 14-2.
Bottom line … Thomas is adamant the lovable loser Browns are long gone — and this is a team to be reckoned with.
“This is the revival and the resuscitation of the Cleveland Browns franchise. For 17 years, to not go to the playoffs, for a lot longer than that not having won a playoff game and to be able to come back, get that monkey off your back, go to Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers, your hated rival, in a game that nobody gave you a chance in.”
“I think it really is the turning of the tides for the Browns franchise and I think it’s a little bit of the turning of tides in the AFC North as well.”
The NFL is on notice.