“Jingle Bell Rock” is on the radio and the Browns haven’t been eliminated from the playoffs.

While it may not qualify as a Christmas miracle, it’s certainly stunning after the Browns went 1-15 and 0-16 the last two seasons and started this one 2-6-1.

With only three weeks left, the Browns (5-7-1) are mathematically alive for the postseason and clinging to the hope. Free safety Damarious Randall is one of the players who can’t stop talking about the possibility.

“I feel like if we win out, everything else will take care of itself,” he said Sunday after the 26-20 win over the Panthers. “It if takes care of itself and we end up the sixth seed, somebody’s going to be in trouble.”




The hope and confidence are admirable. But reaching the playoffs remains unrealistic even after winning three of the last four.

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The best the Browns can do is get to 8-7-1, which is rarely good enough to earn a 17th game. But they still have two avenues open — both extreme long shots — after climbing out of the AFC North cellar for the first time since Week 11 of 2015.

Each requires them to win the final three games.

They can capture the AFC North for the first time since it was formed in 2002.

The Steelers have lost three straight but remain in first place at 7-5-1. The Ravens are 7-6.

The Browns would lose the tiebreaker to the Steelers because the Steelers beat them in Pittsburgh after tying in Cleveland. So the Browns need the Steelers to lose their final three — home vs. New England (9-4), at New Orleans (11-2), home vs. Cincinnati (5-8).

They’d also need the Ravens to lose twice, including the finale against the Browns in Baltimore. So the Ravens would have to lose at home to Tampa Bay (5-8) or at the Chargers (10-3).

The Browns can also make the postseason for the first time since 2002 with a wild-card berth.

They need collapses from the four 7-6 teams: Miami, Indianapolis, Tennessee and Baltimore. All four would have to lose twice over the last three weeks.

Their remaining schedules —

Dolphins: at Minnesota (6-5-1 before Monday night), vs. Jacksonville (4-9), at Buffalo (4-9)

Colts: vs. Dallas (8-5), vs. Giants (5-8), at Tennessee

Titans: at Giants, vs. Washington (6-7), vs. Indianapolis

Since the playoff discussion is all about unlikely scenarios, here’s another that lands the Browns the second wild-card spot. The Ravens win the AFC North at 9-7 — winning their next two and losing to the Browns — the Steelers lose their last three and the Dolphins, Colts and Titans finish 8-8 or worse.

The New York Times’ playoff simulator gives the Browns a 1 percent chance of making the playoffs.

So you’re saying there’s a chance?

There would’ve been a much better one if they’d won just one or two of the close games early in the season before coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley were fired Oct. 29. They blew opportunities to win in the opening tie with Pittsburgh and overtime losses to Oakland and Tampa Bay. Throw in Zane Gonzalez’s four missed kicks in a 21-18 loss in New Orleans, and the holiday season could have a completely different look.

“I think it’s only natural for somebody to think that a little bit, but you can’t waste your time thinking about those things. Those things can’t be changed,” interim coach Gregg Williams, who’s 3-2, said Monday on a conference call. “The only thing you do have an impact on is what’s up next and so you gotta focus on what’s up next.

“This game at this level is so hard that you can’t be bringing in outside factors on trying to change the old times.”

Williams considers himself a master motivator and acknowledged having even the slightest chance at the playoffs helps keep the players focused and driven at the end of a long season.

“The pride factor of seeing that possibility still there does help,” he said.

And if the Browns’ season doesn’t extend into January, they can still do damage in December.

“Even if the playoff race doesn’t look bright for us, we still want to finish 8-7-1 regardless,” Randall said. “Even if we’ve got to ruin somebody else’s playoff hope, we really do not care. We’re going in to win every game.”