Jim Corbett

USA TODAY Sports

CLEVELAND — One sign noticeably hung in a FirstEnergy Stadium end zone beneath a bunch of Cleveland Browns fans: BELIEVELAND.

After seemingly decades of heartache, the first-place Browns had given Cleveland a palpable pulse entering Sunday's game. After the 23-7 loss to the Houston Texans, the Browns were knocked from their first-place perch of one week — and technically into a three-way tie at the bottom of the AFC North.

It's fair to wonder: Are these the same old Browns or truly a team full of winners simply finding their way?

After the Texans broke Cleveland's three-game winning streak, longtime Browns fan John Ward, 48, had quickly rejoined his tailgate alongside Lake Erie on Sunday night to take stock of it all.

"There's absolutely a sense of hope in this city," Ward said. "We've had these games this year where we've tripped up against the Jaguars a few weeks ago. It's part of being a young team that is still maturing. But the optimism is still here in Cleveland."

The Browns haven't reached the playoffs since 2002, vaulted into a wild-card berth with a 9-7 record ending with a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A carousel of no-name quarterbacks has been symptomatic of their 77-163 ineptitude from the Browns' 1999 rebirth to 2013. At 6-4 with six games remaining starting with Sunday's road test against the Atlanta Falcons, the Browns are no longer playoff irrelevant in late November.

Coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer have seemingly changed the culture in less than a year, raising fan expectations to the highest levels of playoffs or bust.

"They've stuck with us and endured all the disappointments past," Hall of Fame Browns running back Jim Brown told USA TODAY Sports. "And now we have a team that is winning games. It's fantastic, because we have (Cleveland Cavaliers forward) LeBron (James) back in town. And this group of players who are playing their hearts out as a team."

The last quarterback to lead the Browns to an NFL championship, 27-0 against the Baltimore Colts, was Frank Ryan, who teamed with Brown, a road-grading offensive line and wide receiver Gary Collins to give Cleveland its last NFL title in 1964.

Ryan, 78, returned for the 50th reunion of that last championship Browns team Sept. 21 along with his wife, Joan.

"It's great to see them winning again, because they've been stuck in a lost pit for so long, and it's good to see they've turned things around," Ryan said. "They've got a good coach in Mike Pettine, and he stuck with the right quarterback.

"You couldn't ask more from Brian Hoyer."

The most symbolic thing Hoyer did Sunday in what one sports talk radio host, 850 ESPN's Tony Rizzo, called "an unacceptable effort" was get up after getting blasted by Texans linebacker Brian Cushing.

Pettine has stayed the course with Hoyer despite what many anticipated would be a short battle with first-round draft pick Johnny Manziel.

But Hoyer, a kid from nearby North Olmsted, Ohio, has gone 9-4 as the Browns starter after three years as a backup to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Despite his most dismal effort at the worst possible time, completing just 20 of 50 passes for 330 yards with a touchdown and an interception, Hoyer has stabilized the franchise's most glaring weakness since Browns 2.0 returned three years after late owner Art Modell took the team to Baltimore.

Brady texted Hoyer on Sunday night and told him essentially to shake it off. "Real football season starts now," Brady wrote.

"Brian's best football is yet to come," Brady told USA TODAY Sports recently. "It hasn't been easy; it hasn't been handed to him on a silver platter. ... Everything he went through last year with the knee injury has prepared him for what he's done this year. His teammates trust and believe in him.

"That's all you can ask for as a quarterback."

With key divisional games at home Dec. 14 against the Cincinnati Bengals and Dec. 28 at the Baltimore Ravens, what would the feeling be among fans if these Browns miss the playoffs for a 12th consecutive year?

"The Browns may end up finishing 8-8, but it would be a huge milestone," longtime fan Dave Freund said after Sunday's loss "Who predicted eight wins nationally for the Browns? Cleveland's been the butt of a lot of jokes as 'The Mistake by the Lake.'

"These Browns brought a sense of pride back to this city."

The Browns couldn't explain Sunday's listless start. But they've done enough so far to re-energize the city.

They will get a potential offensive boost from the return of all-pro receiver Josh Gordon from a 10-game suspension for his latest violation of the league's substance abuse policy.

"The same old Browns believed they were the same old Browns,'' Freund said. "This team doesn't believe that. ...They're still going to have losing skids. But I really believe that they believe they're a good team.''