It’s finally over, citizens of Cleveland. The four month disaster taking place on the shore of Lake Erie has mercifully come to a conclusion. Rest assured, those who survived the full-scale chaos taking place in their fair city, the terror is gone at last.

I’m talking, of course, about the train wreck that was the 2015 Cleveland Browns season. It came to a close just minutes ago, and I couldn’t think of any better news to come from this year.

The Browns finished the 2014 season at 7-9, and came into this year hoping to build off of what was (sadly) the best record the team has seen since 2007. Instead, Cleveland finished the year winning just three games, owning the worst defense in the NFL by a mile and more drama than 25 years’ worth of soap operas. It was, without a doubt, an embarrassment of epic proportions.

Obviously losing is nothing new for the Browns. However, what the team put forth this year was so much worse than the average season full of losses. In fact, I’d go all out and claim this season was the worst year the Browns have seen since they returned in 1999.

Sure, the team has seen worse records since coming back to the NFL. Cleveland reintroduced itself to the league with a 2-14 record in ’99. The Browns followed this up with a year of minimal progress and a record of 3-13. Since then, it’s a stunner if the team finishes a season with more than four or five wins.

However, despite all of this, it’s still undeniable that what Cleveland did this year is by far the bottom of the barrel. If you don’t believe me, just look at everything involved with the clown-show that was the 2015 Browns.

First of all, there was the aforementioned regression the team endured.

As of November 23, 2014, Cleveland was 7-4 and coach Mike Pettine was enjoying the best debut a Browns coach has seen in decades. Since then, the team has only won three games. The defense, which was OK at best last year, has gotten astronomically worse, allowing more rush yards per game than any other team in the league while also displaying a complete inability to tackle at a professional level.

Outside of statistics, there are plenty of storylines to add more fuel to the dumpster fire.

Last year, Cleveland GM Ray Farmer blatantly disregarded the position of wide receiver, and it was a major reason why the team sputtered through the final weeks of the season. In order to fix this, Farmer signed Dwayne Bowe, giving him $9 million guaranteed. Bowe finished the year much like he spent the majority of it; as a healthy scratch. Bowe was inactive for seven games, only catching five passes on the season.

Oh, but it wasn’t just free agency acquisitions which dragged the Browns to the bottom of the league.

Farmer’s drafting abilities continued to plague Cleveland all season long. This year’s first-round picks, Danny Shelton and Cameron Erving, never showed much progress. Erving in particular looked like he couldn’t block a peewee defensive end to save his life. Meanwhile, last year’s first overall pick – cornerback Justin Gilbert – was inactive more often than not, as the Browns chose instead to start either unprepared rookies or guys playing out of position.

Let the record show, though, that Pettine thinks Gilbert is progressing.

And then, there’s Johnny Manziel.

Cleveland’s problem child of a quarterback continued to cause problems despite spending the first portion of 2015 in rehab. Though he showed mild progress on the field, Manziel apparently felt as though he wasn’t living unless he was posting videos of himself drinking on social media. He did so twice this year, which did nothing but cause rifts throughout the locker room.

It was only fitting, then, that rumors surged about Manziel (who was diagnosed with a concussion) spending yesterday in Vegas.

Have the Browns had worse records than the one they put forth this year? Of course. However, what took place this season was a disaster the likes these long-suffering fans haven’t seen in a long, long time.

Both Pettine and Farmer are reportedly about to be kicked to the curb, but fans should hardly convince themselves a new regime is going to fix this mess. The stains Cleveland left on the field this year are going to take years to clean, and it’s not going to matter who the team hires. This season was an absolute disaster and, as a result, it’ll be a long time before supporters finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Casey Drottar is the Cleveland Beat Writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter or “Like” him on Facebook