5 myths the Browns will dispel en route to 2019 playoffs

2. They’re too young to make a Super Bowl run

Speaking of which, let’s examine the false premise that the Browns are too young, and therefore don’t know how to win yet. They’re incapable of winning a championship, or even the AFC. That’s the idea.

Let’s go a notable, recent, multiple Super Bowl participant and break down their makeup and relative inexperience that didn’t seem to matter or impede their quest for a Lombardi Trophy.

The Seattle Seahawks went to back-to-back Super Bowls following the 2013 and ’14 seasons, winning the first and barely losing the second to New England. Their most important core players participated in both games.

Their ages? In Super Bowl XLVIII’s 43-8 trouncing of the Denver Broncos, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was 25 years old. Wide receivers Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin were the same age. Running back Marshawn Lynch was long in the tooth at 27.

That vaunted Legion of Boom secondary was really young, too. Earl Thomas was only 24 years of age, while Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Byron Maxwell were all 25. Stud linebacker Bobby Wagner was 23, and outside backer K.J. Wright was 24. The defense’s Super Bowl MVP, linebacker Malcolm Smith, was 24.

Mayfield is 24; Chubb will be the same in December. Landry turns 27 in November, as does Beckham. Newly acquired defensive linemen Vernon and Richardson will both turn 29 during the season, creating a terrifying front with younger mates Garrett (23) and the underrated Larry Ogunjobi (25).

The heart of the Browns’ defense, Joe Schobert, will be 26 in November. Emerging cornerback Denzel Ward had a phenomenal rookie season and is already ascending among the best at his position at only age 22.

Plus, Cleveland has a little more experience among the secondary’s primary contributors in safeties Damarious Randall (27 on August 29) and Morgan Burnett (30), in addition to cornerbacks Terrance Mitchell (27) and T.J. Carrie (29).

The aforementioned Seahawks had gone to the playoffs the year before winning the Super Bowl but advanced largely due to an injury suffered by Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III on Wild Card Weekend. Otherwise there wasn’t much to speak of — only Thomas and Lynch had played a role in the postseason among the key core players, and they went after winning a division with a losing record in 2010.

So, um, no, the Browns aren’t too young or too inexperienced to win in the playoffs. They have a better defensive front four, at least on paper, than those Seattle teams did.

What the Browns lack in defensive backfield prowess — any group falls short of the Legion of Boom’s apex, Cleveland not by a devastating margin — they exceed those Seahawks far and away in skill position talent, particularly at wide receiver.

And Mayfield had just as impressive a start to his career as Wilson did, to put it succinctly.

Vanquish this nonsense before anyone can convince you otherwise. The Browns are just as loaded, if not more so, than those esteemed Seattle teams.