It seemed to me like the Browns had no chance in overtime last Sunday. After getting burned deep in the last minute of regulation, then giving up the tying field goal, the momentum had swung back to the home team. It was as if the football gods had decreed that the Browns, having given everybody their entertainment buck’s worth, should now resign themselves to form holding true. You may cover the spread, but you just can’t beat the Broncos in Denver.

But let me ask this question in retrospect: if you win the coin toss in overtime, is it ever acceptable to take the wind and let the other team have the ball first? It’s easy to second-guess, but if you think this is EVER a viable option, that would have been the time for it.

Northbound kicks were touchbacks more often than not on Sunday. Elam kicked a 51-yard field goal with the wind. Conway missed a 38-yarder against it. All 20 of the Browns’ points came with the wind at their backs.

The Browns went conventional and chose to receive. Denver, not surprisingly, kicked the ball into the end zone for a touchback. The Browns went three-and-out. An average punt and return gave the Broncos the ball at their own 47, a mere 20 yards — one naked bootleg — from field goal range. Sure enough, a chip-shot ended it.

I’m not saying the Browns would have stopped Denver right away had they kicked off. But the defense would probably have started at Denver’s 20, where one mistake gives us an easy chance to win. All in all, I think our odds would’ve been better playing on that side of the field rather than expecting Couch and the ailing offense to drive 50 or more yards into the wind.

But I know that’s easy to say now. I’m not ripping Butch for that choice. There’s so much other fruitful fodder for the criticism cannon.