DENVER -- The Browns won a game on Saturday night they had no business winning.

Baker Mayfield struggled with his accuracy throughout the night. The defense gave up yardage in chunks. It was ugly all around.

And the Browns beat the Broncos 17-16 for a win they absolutely had to have if they wanted to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

There are different ways to look at this game, but Browns fans can be forgiven if they just want to say a win’s a win and keep playing those postseason scenarios out. The reality in the NFL is that sometimes things aren’t perfect. Sometimes things are a grind. Some weeks you win by two scores and others you manage to get on a plane out of Denver with a win you probably shouldn’t have been allowed to take home.

Guess what doesn’t matter in this league, though? Whether you deserved it or not. The Browns have been on the other side of that multiple times this season.

When things turned to the fourth quarter, the Broncos' free agent signing at quarterback shrunk, throwing a jump ball to T.J. Carrie. The Browns' quarterback responded, finding Rashard Higgins down the sideline and throwing a perfect ball to Antonio Callaway for the go-ahead score.

When Broncos coach Vance Joseph made the decision to kick a field goal on fourth-and-1 inside the 10, Nick Chubb broke a 40-yard run on the Browns' first offensive play. When the Broncos were driving to try and win the game, it was Myles Garrett that hit Keenum on his third-down pass attempt and Jabrill Peppers that ended the game with a sack.

This was a football team continuing to grow up before our very eyes. Every week we get more and more opportunities to see the potential, to let our minds wander to what could be next season with a little more talent and the full-time coaching staff in place.

We’ll talk about next year later, though. The Browns are, somehow, still alive this year because they found a way, somehow, to win on Saturday night.