The Cleveland Browns have been of the NFL's most surprising teams in a COVID-19-hit 2020. Not only are they very close to qualifying for the playoffs, the Browns (10-4) also have a chance of surpassing the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-3) with two games left, to win the National Football Conference's (NFC) North division.

The last time the Browns were in the postseason was in 2002. After that, they only had two winning seasons – a winning season means a team has a better than .500 record – in 2007 and this year.

So, what's been the game changer?

Compared with the 6-10 2019 season, the Browns did not make many adjustments to their squad – the biggest change was Kevin Stefanski replacing Fredddie Kitchens as head coach. During his time with the Minnesota Vikings, Stefanski was well-known for putting tight ends in important positions. When many thought he was going to introduce that system to the Browns, Stefanski chose to go a different way.

He made rushing the first choice in the Browns in offense, establishing a working system around Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Both responded to Stefanski's trust by rushing 931 and 793 yards so far respectively. The Browns rank third in team rushing yards per game after the Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans.

When the team landed Odell Beckham Jr. in 2019, he had been expected to make one of the league's best wide receiver-quarterback pairs with Baker Mayfield. Nonetheless, what the Browns need is a wide receiver who can drive deep and beat the opponents' cornerback one-on-one, which is not what OBJ can offer.

That explains why the Browns did even better after OBJ was ruled out for the season because of injury. Stefanski added Donovan Peoples-Jones and Rashard Higgins to the rotation to work with Jarvis Landry, who has been the team's most efficient wide receiver this season.

The Browns selected Jedrick Wills Jr. with the 10th overall pick in the NFL Draft and signed Kong Klin, they were trying to improve their disappointing offensive line. Though neither of the two has met the team's expectations so far, the rest of the offensive line has performed surprisingly well. Despite their mediocre ability to create a pocket, the Browns offensive line are great at creating space for their running backs which are already one of the league's best performing.

As the quarterback the Browns placed great hopes on, Mayfield has been changing his game for the good of the team as well. He reduced his creative attempts in passing and followed the coach's plan in a better way. It might have seemed that Mayfield's talent was "neglected," but his weakness, including terrible reading of the defense and unreliable running ability outside the pocket, were also hidden.

As long as Mayfield continues to do the right thing on the field, he is helping the team move forward.

The Browns will play the New York Jets and the Steelers in their last two game of the regular season.