The NFL will be releasing the schedule this Wednesday. Any guesses about ours? We have to assume that we’ll have at least a handful of prime time games (and maybe even a few “game of the week” games at 4:25).

Here are the opponents:

HOME - BAL, PIT, CIN, ARI, DEN, LV, CHI, DET, HOU
AWAY - BAL, PIT, CIN, KC, LAC, GB, MIN, NE

I’m really hoping some games get leaked before schedule release last years past. We have season tics and grab a hotel right when dates are released before prices skyrocket. We only get a hotel on night games or 4 o clock. Thinking we will be doing the that a few times this year!!

I hear you. That is especially true when you want to stay downtown for night games. All others, I stay overnight anyway, but stay 15-20 miles out of downtown, so the prices aren't as bad because it is a gameday.

We stayed around the airport for cheap for the draft. But like you said night games, downtown is where like to stay. It seems Expedia Hotwire etc raise prices a little slower than straight through hotel, when schedule released. Done really good with Hotwire.

The last 2 years this thread just lead to misinformation.
When they finally do release the schedule there are so many posts claiming to be the inside early information that I can't find the real schedule, on DTMB for reference.
It's only 3 days to wait.

My thoughts.
Hope for no 3 game road trips.
You want to get more road games out of the way early.
There will probably be some team(s) with 2 games in London England.
If the league wants more revenue they should add a 2nd bye week.

The pre-season should not be more than ONE game if it were up to me.
The league needs to be mandated to give more free time to players.
Expand the rosters from 53 to 55.

I'd think based on last year that at least one BAL game, the KC game, and maybe one of the PIT or GB game would be prime time/games of the week.

I'm kind of hoping the Detroit game is on Thanksgiving Day, and I really want the Arizona game to be in December.

It'll be interesting to see who we see at QB for NE and CHI, and maybe DEN and HOU (but clearly that's not directly schedule related)

jc

I am assuming that hotels raising prices for game day is accurate.
Don't most hotels have a 72 hour cancelation policy?
It's a fair bit of extra work, but you could book rooms for each week now before the prices go up, then cancel the ones you don't need.

I wish we were on Thanksgiving too, however the Detroit game is at our place this year so that can’t be it.

I also agree w/Arizona ... it’d be excellent to make Kyler Murray come here for a mid-December matchup

I have never done the hotwire thing. I have tried one such site but you couldn't pick the hotel. I try to stay loyal to Marriott brands to build points. If I am going it alone and want to ease the budget a bit, I stick with Red Roof. I have stayed at several in the area and have no complaints. I build points with them as well. We spend enough nights in hotels that building points only makes sense.

Odd number of games...who will have more home games than away...how will that work out!

Or all have 8 home games and then one in another country?

we have 9 homes games and 8 away games this year ... it will alternate like that every year. All AFC teams have 9 home games this year and then all NFC teams will have 9 home games next year

They should find a way to make it work out that all London, Mexico games are considered away games for both teams, so that teams and fans always have 8 home games.

This would be nice for sure. It sucks that some teams will have only 7 home games and basically 10 away games some years. That’s too unbalanced

As long as it is balanced inside the division, it seems fair to me.

yes, that would mean the NFL would make sure that if Baltimore has a “home” game in London, then the other 3 AFCN teams do as well

14-3 lets go

and its 3 because the last game of the season, the cardinals gonna be fighting for the wildcard while we already got the division and seeding locked up.

Super Bowl is in LA. The Browns have their best chance to be in the Super Bowl in my lifetime. I live in LA. Looks like I will be going to SoFi Field twice this year.

I actually look for the NFL to have a plan for that. I think their goal is to eventually have 16 international games a year to try and further their brand in other countries including Mexico. That would give all 32 NFL teams eight homes games, eight away games and one international game.

Until then, yes, trying to keep everyone happy with the yearly scheduling is going to be a chore for them.

They probably don't even need to do 16 international games.

Maybe have some neutral site games for some of the others, could make for a great chance for some fans to see teams that aren't close to where they currently live.

Along those lines, I don't think it would be a bad idea to put a game or two in places in the US that aren't really served by the existing teams.

https://sportleaguemaps.com/football/nfl/

There are some large areas on that map (some even with some big cities) that would benefit from being able to see teams play.

Agreed. Football is an American sport. I don't feel there is a need to play it in other countries. We can play games in larger cities in this country that don't have a team. San Antonio and ST. Louis are 2 that come to mind. Why not play an NFL game in Alabama or Iowa for example. I'm sure people there would enjoy seeing a Pro game once in a while. It's an inconvenience for teams to travel to London.JMO

Because those states/cities already have fans of the NFL. The NFL doesn't have to grow there. They are trying to grow entirely new markets and create fanbases where there are none. Most importantly, it is about getting TV broadcast contracts in areas where they currently don't have any deals.

If they can grow enough interest in NFL football in South or Central America, or Europe, Japan/China/Asia, then they can work TV deals in those regions. That's potentially TENS OF BILLIONS more dollars; not just the few hundred thousand or maybe even a million that comes from ticket sales in a place like Alabama that already has full TV coverage.

I liked the idea of having neutral games for some of these AFC/NFC matchups (Like us vs Arizona this year) ... find a place in America that is somewhere in between

I think that sometimes people overlook the fact that the bulk of the NFL's income is through TV deals.

Grab an extra ducket... I'll meet you there for the championship!

Bingo. The Premier League has a $1 billion TV with NBC because they grew their league in the US. The NFL is trying to plant that seed in the UK to get a similar deal down the road.

Essentially, don't they have that now with the 17 game season?

They have the schedule arranged in a way that it makes it possible for them to do that. But as of now they aren't employing a 16 game international schedule. I think that's the eventual goal of implementing a 17 game schedule.

Hopefully no Thursday night games since I don’t have Amazon Prime.

The Amazon Prime TNF deal does not start until the 2022 season.

You're good for this season.

Based on media reports (week 1 will be released this morning) .. there are only a handful of teams we can play week 1:

Pittsburgh (home or away)
Baltimore (home or away)
Arizona (home)
Green Bay (away)
Kansas City (away)


So it looks to be a difficult/marquee game to start.

It’s also been reported we play at Minnesota in week 4

Browns at Chiefs week 1

https://www.kctv5.com/sports/kansas_city...Breaking%20News

Well - I like the brutal start to the schedule.

Great chance to go in and show how we have improved. I'd rather face KC early than any other time. Prefer to play them at home than at Arrowhead - but will take it.

4:25pm kickoff.

Week 4 - Browns at Minnesota (1:00 CBS)

I remember the last time the Browns opened vs the Chiefs Bernie Kosar took a hit on the elbow
From Lloyd Burress on a safety blitz and it shortened his career. Kosar out for the year.

or Dwayne Rudd’s helmet toss

Nope, the last time we opened with the Chiefs was the Dwayne Rudd helmet toss game.

j/c:

2 games will be played in London, and it will not be the tackles.
When the NFL added a 17th game it reduced the pre-season to 3 games and designated the AFC teams to host the 17th games this year.

^ When asking the internet if all the 17th games would be in London.

No Colts, No Titans, No Bills, all plusses. Broncos come to Cleveland... Texans at home, Only one game in Los Angeles, all pluses.

Old news, but new to me.

Anthony Lima
@SportsBoyTony
Just had a caller that we know say he's hearing Browns at Packers on Christmas Day. Do you love that or hate that?

Wouldn't it be nice to see Browns at New England, Thanksgiving night.

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. Fingerscrossed.
Catch a Macy's parade, Catch a Browns game.

Unknown.

***RUMOR***

Browns vs Packers @ Lambeau Field on Christmas Day.

That's not good that we open at the Chiefs. Our D won't have time to play together and gel. It will be our usual first game of the season loss. Not a Good start.

Eh... I dunno. Chiefs are going to be a tough game regardless of when we play them. Might actually be good to get that out of the way early. We had a tough start last year and ended up doing fine.

there were two games I nearly expected to be prime time .. KC and GB. The NFL has placed them in “other” time slots than the 8:20 SNF or 8:15 MNF slots.

That means we will probably still get 3/4 traditional prime time games

Master
@MasterTes
Sources: Cowboys will host the Raiders on Thanksgiving

The season is 17 games long.

The game could have home field implications, but in the end, it isn't a make or break game.

Chiefs have a new OL. The Browns are really good now.

I love opening against KC!

NFL Update
@MySportsUpdate
·
3m
NFL schedule leak: The full Thanksgiving slate, per
@MasterTes
:

*Bears vs. Lions
*Raiders vs. Cowboys
*Bills vs. Saints

Good point. To me it is a lot easier to gel on D. Find the ball, then swarm like fire ants to the ball, smothering whoever has the ball.

I think you're probably right. But it's a chance to make a gigantic statement in week 1. I'm glad the Browns have that chance to show that (this time) the off season hype was warranted.

Playing at Green Bay on Christmas Day is a pretty awesome thing

They need to move that team out of Detroit, that town is not the same as it was 37 years ago.

I honestly feel like if we play the chiefs in the playoffs again, the loser of the week 1 game will be the winner of the playoff game

I disagree. Detroit is still the armpit of America just as it was 37 years ago.

So tired of Thanksgiving games always being in Detroit and Dallas, mostly because the games are indoors. Too sterile. I loved watching bad weather games on T-day when I was a kid.

Bring it on.

Let's set the tone right from the get go.

One of Cleveland PD beat writers, I think maybe lasmertes or whatever his name is pointed out that our success or failure this year may hinge on our ability to gel and get our feet early, hopefully with an easier schedule early that ramps up later. Yea, well, how’s KC in KC for an easy start. Sheesh. It’s a tall order. I won’t be one bit surprised if we have a season opener much like last years season opener. Which is fine as long as we recover and learn like we did last year.

We started out pretty rough last year and ended up doing alright.

j/c...

Merry Christmas Jordan Love!

Just glad that's not a home game. Wouldn't want to freeze my butt off and miss Christmas with my family.

It's really a win-win, even if we don't win. Great measuring stick and a chance to see just how much work we need to gel on defense. A loss to them means nothing in week 1, a loss later in the season would have a much deeper psychological effect.

A win? Wow.

Their brand new O-Line won't have time to play together and gel either. We pressure Mahomes, it gives us a big bump up in terms of pulling off the upset. They'll have Orlando Brown at LT, who is probably an upgrade, but he is still limited in LT experience. Also will be starting a rookie at C. They upgraded big at LG with Thuney, but their starting RG, Kyle Long, while he used to be a Pro Bowler, was out of football last year.

Agreed. We have a lot of players that throve playing from the position of disrespected underdawg. A loss to a super bowl favorite early could be good season-long fuel. And a win? well now...

I don't like it. That's a Saturday.
There shouldn't be any football at all on Christmas Day.

In Kevin's press conference for the end of the season. He wanted the players to hold on to the pain. Use it for motivation for this year.

Well here we go. I am glad we play them first.

We will be ready. This is an entire coaching staff returning lead by NFL Head Coach of the Year. This will not be a meet and greet camp. This will not be Covid camp.
Limited zoom.

The schedule will be on the bulletin board. Every person in the organization will be locked in for the first game.

Let's set the tone right off the bat.

Yep. 1-0 is always the mantra. This year we have four months to stare that monster in the eyes.

When was the last time we won a Week 1 game?

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2015/09/13_fun_facts_about_the_last_ti.html

Looks like 2004

There were probably some posters here in diapers...

...and some that are in diapers now that weren't then.

Here’s what we know so far:

Week 1 - at Kansas City (4:25 CBS)
Week 4 - at Minnesota (1:00 CBS)
Week 7 - Denver (8:20 FOX)
Week 10 - at New England (1:00 CBS)
Week 12 - at Baltimore (8:20 NBC)
Week 15 - Las Vegas (TBA)
Week 16 - at Green Bay (4:30 FOX)
Week 17 - at Pittsburgh (8:15 ESPN)


Looks like we have a tough go right now

So that Denver game is a Thursday night.

j/c...

Yes, TNF ... NFL is hedging its bets with the Aaron Rodgers situation early in the season

Both Pitt and Balt prime time games are away. Two thumbs down.

Prime time games are a blast to attend. Atmosphere is ratcheted up a notch.

yeah that’s a tough break. I was hoping to have one home and one away.

KC in the first week will be good test of the coaching staff, especially Woods. They did a good job of preparing the team last year. I hope we can break our first game losing streak... was hoping we would open against PIT like usual.

I hate that we open against KC while Baltimore gets the Raiders...

Now get your ass over here and clean the coffee off my keyboard!

Would rather get the chiefs early anyway. I dont think their Ol improved and we have been preparing for them since the steelers playoff game. Road to the Superbowl begins in kc.

I also like the primetime games on the road. You go on the riad primetime. Beat a team and you own them. I want this team ready to make a run.

I do understand those who aren't happy about our first game being against the Chiefs. On the surface it doesn't look good.

But as was mentioned, the D usually gels quicker than the O and there won't be any point in time during our season where our roster will be healthier than the beginning of the season. So while it has its disadvantages I also see an advantage.

The last time was also the ONLY time.

Here’s what we know now:

Week 1 - Sunday, September 12 - at Kansas City (4:25 CBS)
Week 2 -
Week 3 -
Week 4 - Sunday, October 3 - at Minnesota (1:00 CBS)
Week 5 -
Week 6 -
Week 7 - Thursday, October 21 - Denver (8:20 FOX)
Week 8 -
Week 9 -
Week 10 - Sunday, November 14 - at New England (1:00 CBS)
Week 11 -
Week 12 - Sunday, November 28 - at Baltimore (8:20 NBC)
Week 13 -
Week 14 -
Week 15 - Saturday, December 18 - Las Vegas (TBA)
Week 16 - Saturday, December 25 - at Green Bay (4:30 FOX)
Week 17 - Monday, January 3 - at Pittsburgh (8:15 ESPN)
Week 18 -

You can fill in week 14...

Yeah that’s week 10

Week 18 will be Ravens. If not, you can almost bank on it being Week 2 with Week 3 being Pittsburgh (or flip those two, whatever).

14 will probably be Cinci, and maybe 5, 6, or 8 for the other Cinci.

Since we have a 3rd place schedule, I anticipate a Week 8 or 9 Bye week. MAYBE Week 11.

Oops! Was looking at Nov. 14th and 14 stuck in my brain.

Unless we sustain camp or preseason game injuries.

UPDATE:

Obviously this is just based on the leak stuff:

Week 1 - Sunday, September 12 - at Kansas City (4:25 CBS)
Week 2 - Sunday, September 19 - Houston (1:00 CBS)
Week 3 - Sunday, September 26 - Chicago (1:00 FOX)
Week 4 - Sunday, October 3 - at Minnesota (1:00 CBS)
Week 5 -
Week 6 -
Week 7 - Thursday, October 21 - Denver (8:20 FOX)
Week 8 -
Week 9 -
Week 10 - Sunday, November 14 - at New England (1:00 CBS)
Week 11 -
Week 12 - Sunday, November 28 - at Baltimore (8:20 NBC)
Week 13 -
Week 14 - Sunday, December 12 - Baltimore (1:00 CBS)
Week 15 - Saturday, December 18 - Las Vegas (TBA)
Week 16 - Saturday, December 25 - at Green Bay (4:30 FOX)
Week 17 - Monday, January 3 - at Pittsburgh (8:15 ESPN)
Week 18 - Sunday, January 9 - Cincinnati (1:00 CBS)

Week 13 BYE

Also, Arizona week 6.

Wow, baltimore then bye then baltimore

Week 1 - Sunday, September 12 - at Kansas City (4:25 CBS)
Week 2 - Sunday, September 19 - Houston (1:00 CBS)
Week 3 - Sunday, September 26 - Chicago (1:00 FOX)
Week 4 - Sunday, October 3 - at Minnesota (1:00 CBS)
Week 5 -
Week 6 - Sunday, October 17 - Arizona (1:00 FOX)
Week 7 - Thursday, October 21 - Denver (8:20 FOX)
Week 8 -
Week 9 -
Week 10 - Sunday, November 14 - at New England (1:00 CBS)
Week 11 -
Week 12 - Sunday, November 28 - at Baltimore (8:20 NBC)
Week 13 - BYE
Week 14 - Sunday, December 12 - Baltimore (1:00 CBS)
Week 15 - Saturday, December 18 - Las Vegas (TBA)
Week 16 - Saturday, December 25 - at Green Bay (4:30 FOX)
Week 17 - Monday, January 3 - at Pittsburgh (8:15 ESPN)
Week 18 - Sunday, January 9 - Cincinnati (1:00 CBS)

I must have never paid attention to this. Why don’t they just release the schedule? What is with not knowing all the games at the same time?

Playing Baltimore back to back after a bye is odd...can that be right?

That’s what the leaks have been saying ... All I’m doing is going along with what is trending on social media. Obviously this is all taken with a grain of salt

I can only assume it is to sell commercial time on the announcement show on ESPN tonight.

That's about it... to manufacture an event where there isn't one.

UPDATE:

Week 1 - Sunday, September 12 - at Kansas City (4:25 CBS)
Week 2 - Sunday, September 19 - Houston (1:00 CBS)
Week 3 - Sunday, September 26 - Chicago (1:00 FOX)
Week 4 - Sunday, October 3 - at Minnesota (1:00 CBS)
Week 5 - Sunday, October 10 - at LA Chargers (4:05 CBS)
Week 6 - Sunday, October 17 - Arizona (4:25 CBS)
Week 7 - Thursday, October 21 - Denver (8:20 FOX)
Week 8 - Sunday, October 31 - Pittsburgh (1:00 CBS)
Week 9 - Sunday, November 7 - at Cincinnati (1:00 CBS)
Week 10 - Sunday, November 14 - at New England (1:00 CBS)
Week 11 - Sunday, November 21 - Detroit (1:00 FOX)
Week 12 - Sunday, November 28 - at Baltimore (8:20 NBC)
Week 13 - BYE
Week 14 - Sunday, December 12 - Baltimore (1:00 CBS)
Week 15 - Saturday, December 18 - Las Vegas (TBA)
Week 16 - Saturday, December 25 - at Green Bay (4:30 FOX)
Week 17 - Monday, January 3 - at Pittsburgh (8:15 ESPN)
Week 18 - Sunday, January 9 - Cincinnati (1:00 CBS)


We’ll see how accurate the leaks were for us ....

Seems like leaked schedules last year were bogus, but we shall see.

No way we play Balt. back to back.

If only he could use his powers for good.

A week 13 Bye would be nice, just about near the middle if you Win the Super Bowl and start in pre season. 23-25 counting? the Wild card and or the bye week itself, or weeks before week 1, and or the Super Bowl media week.
I still advocate a 2nd bye week for all teams, one early, one late, spread at least 4 weeks apart, ending by game 12.

I'm okay with the late bye... but the baltimore swing is a little brutal.

They don't play a division opponent until week 8.. that's a little weak.



Guess the KC matchup was just too much to pass up. Mahomes v Mayfield... they're hoping can be like Brady/Manning methinks.

Putting Cincy so late... at least we get to see if they came to play at that point. Either they're out of contention at week 18 or the AFC north is the most dominant division in the NFL.

Week 2 through 6 are all a bunch of teams with identity problems. THey have the capacity to win. But most if all of them really are still trying to figure it out.

The schedule makers actually did a decent job of breaking up the more difficult games... gotta give em props for that.

Most definitely a schedule that is going to challenge... but not one that is entirely too difficult.

Here we go:

WE WANT MORE...


also 1 - 0 each week.

Trying to find one 1 pm game to switch with the Baltimore games back to back, I notice the divisional games before week 6. In recent years there has been a pattern of playing at least 1, usually 2 division games in the first 4-5 games.

that week 12 game at baltimore on sunday night....

How am i already amped for that game?

I’m a bit bummed that we have baltimore and Pittsburgh on the road in primetime .. and we didnt get one of them

I’d have rather started at home, but that’s the way she goes. On the road at Arrowhead doesn’t scare me, in fact it’ll be nice to hammer them with our smash-face run game (I just made that up now haha), to get the season going.

I’m not worried about Baltimore or Pitt, either. If we stay relatively healthy we are better than both of ‘em.

I no longer fear any team, at any house.

I agree lamp. We SHOULD be able to beat anyone on our schedule if we play well. I wanted us to play one or two more home primetime games for our fans ... we didn’t get that experience last year or this coming year now

Lets wait for the real schedule. 5 minutes

Ooops, beat me!

WE have a bye week between Ravens games.

THEY play Pittsburgh between our games.

WE have 10 days off before the Steelers come to town.

THEY will be coming off a bye week.

... but no real advantage.

And the Steelers have a Bye too ... so its a wash, yes

There is the expression "smash mouth football", it's an expression with a long and storied past.

The schedule is the schedule all that matters to me is our team, and we are going to be a tough out for anybody anywhere ... GO BROWNS

STEELERS down the stretch...

BALTIMORE
@ MINNESOTA (on four days rest)
TENNESSEE
@ KANSAS CITY
CLEVELAND
@ BALTIMORE


BALTIMORE down the stretch...

CLEVELAND
PITTSBURGH
@ CLEVELAND
@ CINCINNATI
GREEN BAY
L.A. RAMS
@ PITTSBURGH

Looks like a cake walk for Baltimore. Can you imagine if Rodgers went to Baltimore and they used Lamar as the H-back? Whoa that'd screw Cleveland.

We may be going into baltimore with one awesome record. I really like the way this schedule sits for us.

That stuck out as odd.

Despite the feeling among many that the Steelers and Bengals games will likely be wins, I think all our division games are going to be extremely hard fought. We are going to get everything out of all our division rivals this year. They want nothing more than to kick the Browns back to the curb. For the Steelers and Ravens it’s existential. They’re going to play us with special urgency.

The KC game is tough. The Chargers game will be tough. Assuming Rogers is still there the GB game is tough. The Thursday mile high game has potential to be trouble. The raiders game is always a weirdly tough game.

But that’s it. That’s 11 games that concern me. I’m not saying we’ll win all the rest (of course we probably won’t)... but if we’re relatively healthy, we could.

So if we go 3-3 in the division and lose 3 of the other 5 (being conservative) we’re at 5-6 with the tough stuff. Which means 11-6 or 10-7. So much depends on our ability to stay healthy and Baker to continue to grow.

10-6 gets us in the playoffs.

Technically no as you still have a regular season game to play.

5-6 losing 4 of the previous 5, 4 in a row,
8-9 is a real possibility.
It will be real difficult to get a playoff berth this year. One Game at a time.

j/c...

Still bummed about only one prime time game in Cleveland. So disrespectful!

Arizona coming to town will be a fun one to go to.

Early reaction..... 13-4. Lose last game against Cincy due to starters are resting.

Maybe not, the Raiders game is listed as a flex game to be played on Sat or Sun, time TBD.

I am not sure, but don't the Saturday games start at 4, then 8? My guess is we would be the 8 start. Same with Sunday. The Raiders look to be pretty good. That could push to the 8 PM game.

Well, so much for that thought!

I don't love that.... that's a huge 3 week stretch for us....

According to Sharp Football we have the third easiest schedule.

Did you go to the leadtheway school of schleprockology?

There's a bye week between Ravens games...

Could you imagine if the Incredible Hulk was opposite Myles Garrett??

One good thing: last year we were light year’s better after the bye than before it. It could be a big bonus for us to play Baltimore, let our staff dissect it, and then play them again next game.

Love the schedule; I think it sets-up very nicely for us.

Bye has been incredibly tough the last few years...

j/c...

Home against Pittsburgh on Halloween will be a good one.

I know... still don't love it...

woulda been AWESOME for us to host Pittsburgh on SNF on Halloween. I thought we deserved them at home in primetime. And then go to Baltimore on MNF to return the favor from last year.

I honestly thought that was the fairest set up this year. I think we got the short end a bit.

Glass half-full. I like it!

The Incredible Hulk vs.

Myles(42) Clowney(32) Malik Jackson(34.5) and Takk(17.5)
126 career sacks from that front 4. And that's just getting started.

4 430 games...

The LV game is up in the air... could be saturday, could be sunday... could be primetime... could be earlier

only one sunday night game erg
only one monday night game
And the obligatory thursday game

THat Christmas game is gonna be interesting.

I think it's safe to say that the Browns ARE featured nationally....

Week 13 bye and Christmas Day game are not my favorites. Wish it was Thanksgiving day against the Lions.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE 2021

RANK / 2020 OPPONENTS RECORD / 2020 OPPONENTS WIN %

1 Steelers 155-115-2 .574
2 Ravens 152-118-2 .563
3 Bears 149-122-1 .550
4 Packers 147-124-1 .542
5 Vikings 144-127-1 .531
T-6 Bengals 144-128 .529
T-6 Lions 143-127-2 .529
8 Raiders 142-128-2 .526
9 Browns 140-130-2 .518
10 Rams 140-132 .515
T-11 Chiefs 138-132-2 .511
T-11 Seahawks 139-133 .511
T-13 Titans 138-134 .507
T-13 Cardinals 138-134 .507
T-15 Washington 136-134-2 .504
T-15 Texans 137-135 .504
17 Chargers 133-137-2 .493
18 Jaguars 133-138-1 .491
T-19 49ers 132-138-2 .489
T-19 Jets 132-138-2 .489
T-19 Patriots 133-139 .489
22 Saints 131-140-1 .483
T-23 Bills 130-142 .478
T-23 Colts 130-142 .478
25 Giants 128-142-2 .474
26 Panthers 128-143-1 .472
T-27 Broncos 127-143-2 .471
T-27 Dolphins 128-144 .471
29 Buccaneers 126-145-1 .465
30 Falcons 123-148-1 .454
31 Cowboys 122-148-2 .452
32 Eagles 117-155 .430

Alternative angle...

This sounds crazy but I can see up to 12 wins for us on that schedule.

Third easiest schedule? ( cryin on the inside.)
I just saw the Bengals schedule, Yikes.
I may have been doing this for 40(x) years, and franchise specific things,... there was always a thing about don't play cincy, in cincy, in December.

I'd put it 25%, the Bengals are 6-1 or better from their bye week until they play the Browns in Cleveland on the final week January 9th.
Including a 70% or better chance they beat the chiefs on January 2nd, their most winnable.

Scary.

We don’t play Baltimore until week 12, then the team we play after Baltimore, is Baltimore. Granted there is a bye week in there, but that is ridiculous. Why can’t we play each team in the division once in the first half of the season, and once in the second half?

I do love the possibility of playing twice on a Saturday.

Can you imagine the emotional toll this will have on the ratbirds when we sweep them? They have to play us, the steelers and us again while we have a nice rest in between. Their season could end right there.

We get to clinch a playoff spot at home in Week 14 by beating them; then we get to rest our starters in Week 18.

Myles & Clowney get to tee off on SIX rookie Offensive Tackles this season.

The Lions, Vikings, Chargers, and Raiders all took a 1st round OT.
The Dolphins and Bears took 2nd round OTs.

The Bears and New England will have rookie QBs.

Not so much to just you

When has it ever been easy for us?

I expect we will be fighting for a wildcard berth come late in the season.

Rats twice like that stinks. Unless we own them, of course. Ravenkiller willed to put in overtime. Hope we pound them and kill off some of the Jackson lovefest ESPN and other media have shown. Just sweep them.

It's never been easy. It probably never will be.
But, it's hard to not say we're Due.

i agree. The AFC is a very difficult conference right now. Playing the AFCW as opposed to the AFCS is a big difference IMO from last year. Plus, going to NE will never be a picnic.

I think it’ll come down to the last 2 games

Someone please correct me where I'm wrong. Other than KC week 1, GB, and our own division, I don't see a whole lot of very tough games where I would expect us to struggle. Not saying we won't, but I'm seeing a lot of very beatable opponents (none of Texans, Bears, Vikings, Broncos, Patriots, Vikings, Lions scare me). AZ is good, and Chargers should be good, but you never know how a 2nd year QB phenom could go. Bengals might have taken a big leap this offseason, but Pitt probably hasn't.

I’d say there are a handful of games that are 50/50 type IMO ... at LAC, at MIN, Las Vegas, both Baltimore, both Pittsburgh, at CIN, Arizona, and even at NE

There are a few games where I think we SHOULD win for sure: Houston, Cincinnati at home, Denver, Chicago, and Detroit.

There are two main wild cards in play for us:

1. there were defenses that absolutely shut down our offense; and I don't mean during the three weather games. Can our offense take another leap forward and counter/defeat the things teams did to us to shut us down?

2. The defense. No secrets here, we were bad. We're a lot better on paper. Can we move from paper to reality get ourselves off the field consistently? All of those ages-old arguments about the offense needing to give the defense rest and all that have absolutely ZERO merit here... our defense couldn't get itself off the field even in the first quarter of games, much less silly arguments of being tired at the ends of games. Are the new pieces enough? Can we actually force a team to punt when we get them to 3rd & 10+ yards?


If the answers to those two questions are Good, then there is no team on this schedule that we have less than a 50/50 shot with, and most skyrocket to a ballpark around 80/20. If you are hoping to bet the Browns as the underdog in any games this year, you better get those bets in before Week 1 removes doubts in Vegas.

I don't think you are wrong.

Maybe I am over confident.

In the past I would look at the schedule and see games that I felt we had no chance to win.

This season and this schedule I don't see a team we can not beat.

The tough games:

KC away the first game.
The Cardinal game I see as a trap game.
Ravens away.
Packers away (if Rodgers plays)

Even these games I think we can win.

Of course you have to figure a game will happen when things just go wrong.

In the end I see 13-4.

That said: the divide between us and KC is was HUGE.

Until injuries began to decimate the snot outta them in that game, they were doing whatever they wanted and we were spinning our wheels. We won't be that lucky in Week 1; we'll need to beat them by going toe-to-toe with them.

And, if we hadn't beaten them up, I do not think the Bucs beat them in the Super Bowl. This league is ours to take, IF we can put it all together.

in terms of your #1 point about our offense ... I sensed a lot of it was a lack of separation and big play ability by our WRs and TEs. I think we were last in YAC.

So if teams jammed us and took away our PA game then we were cooked. I think a lot rides on OBJ’s ability to build chemistry with Baker ... clearly they haven’t had it at all to this point

That is also where a guy like Schwartz, along with OBJ, can hopefully have some value. When D's do that to us, it is imperative that our WR's find a way to win early in their routes so that we can force a change in how they're playing us.

Thanks for all the updates during the day with dates and opponents. Scored hotel for every night I plan on staying for decent prices.

In the end the biggest game of all will be in the Cleveland.

The road to the Super Bowl runs thru the Dawg Pound.

j/c...



Which win total over or under do you feel best about picking right now?

Walder: Steelers under 9 wins. With an aging Roethlisberger and a very questionable offensive line, this offense could get ugly fast. The defense was elite last season, but we know that side of the ball is less stable from year to year, particularly with a few players -- Cam Heyward and Joe Haden, among others -- reaching the twilight of their careers.

What's your early Super Bowl pick?

Clay: Buccaneers over Browns. Tampa Bay will return its entire starting lineup from last season's Super Bowl run, and its young defense should only be better in 2021. Cleveland's offense was already very good last season, and the front office did an A-plus job overhauling and improving its defense during the offseason. As long as Baker Mayfield doesn't stumble, the Browns should be legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

Walder: Browns over Rams. Cleveland's roster is just overflowing with talent. From Myles Garrett to Odell Beckham Jr. to Denzel Ward to a strong offensive line, the Browns are stacked to the point where they should be able to win -- even without an elite-tier QB. The Rams have incredible upside with stars on defense and potential improvement on offense with Stafford now under center.

What is happening

It's happening.

We're living in 'Opposite George' world.

j/c...

I expect the Baker/Beckham connection to flourish this season. Baker was basically a one read QB until after the bye in 2020, Beckham was gone before that happened.

On one hand, the "one read" approach was a great choice by Stefanski. Baker needed to get comfortable, he was way too uncomfortable looking beyond the first read. On the other, the approach really stifled Beckham's production.

Even when OBJ was the first read, there was a tendency to force the ball regardless of whether he won the route. When he wasn't the first read? I can't count the times OBJ was wide open and Baker was still focused on another receiver. That led to a lot of frustration for OBJ and put an even bigger microscope on their "chemistry".

Add another wild-card with Schwartz, opening more opportunities to Beckham, with a QB that can see the field in confidence? Watch out.

As well as we played down the stretch (particularly Baker), we looked slow. Now we have fast and explosive x 2, provided they both stay healthy. If Baker picks up where he left off, OBJ may once again look like a human cheat-code...

Looking at the Browns schedule I predict their record will be 13-4. Their 4 losses will be @KC, @LA Chargers, @Balt., and @Pitt.

I think the Browns are only going to lose 4 games. @KC, @LAC @Balt and @ Pitt.

Wow awesome! Glad to hear that

j/c:

The first game against KC scares me a bit.

These are the key points IMO.

The offense remains intact. We have added depth and Odell returns.

The big deal is we start a second season with an entire coaching staff and with the Head Coach of the Year.

Baker will begin to build upon last year because of continuity. We are about to find out how good Baker can be with a second year offense.
==================================================

The difference between 2020 and 2021 is Defense.
We will start 8 or 9 new players on defense. Those positions upgraded go from a weakness to strength.

Vastly improved pass rush. Vastly improved secondary. Greatly improved linebacker core.

We took KC to the brink of defeat with a poor defense.

The improvements in defense and a balanced offensive attack in it's second year make the Browns. The team to beat in the NFL.

The top five teams in the NFL IMO are:

1. Browns
2. KC
3. Bills
4. Ravens
5. Rams

The NFC is a weaker conference.
The Saints lost Brees.
The Packers? Rodgers?
The Seahawks are a good team
The Rams should be good with Stafford and their defense.

IMO the Rams and Seahawks are better than the Bucs. The Rams have a better defense than the Bucs. The Seahawks are just as good on offense.

A flashback to the 2019 hype.

2019 was hype.

2021 is not hype. Not when every person who covers the NFL has the Browns as a top six team or better.

Not hype when you have the returning Head Coach of the Year.

The roster and the improvements made on defense from a year ago are not hype.

Yep. Scares the hell out of me. I'm not even thinking past week 1, and we have our hands full already then.

17 sprints.

Until 2021 begins and the team goes to the place we all think they can go...yes it is hype. This time in 2019, many fans also thought the prognostications and predictions weren't hype either. And many analysts said back then the Browns were a top team in the NFL and super bowl contenders, so it isn't really any different now, except for the retention of the HC which is important, for sure.

Look, I'm not saying hype is a bad thing. Teams are hyped every year, rightly or wrongly, correctly or incorrectly. But it is what it is....hype until everything unfolds. I do feel exponentially more confident this time around than 2019, for the record.

I'm finding a lot of wet blankets in the national media as well. THey don't want to believe that the Browns are good.

There is hype. But we have consistency now. I think a lot of people want to make sure that the consistency is there before they hop on the bandwagon.

Pretty sure I'm not alone with this. I love us starting out against the best in the AFC.

Win or lose, we'll get a good gauge of where we really are starting from.

1. Heading into the 2019 season, the expectations were ridiculous because of the 7-8-1 season in 2018. They were 5-3 after Gregg Williams took over as interim coach. Then they traded for Odell Beckham Jr.

2. It is hard to have realistic high expectations for a team with a rookie head coach (Freddie Kitchens), a second-year QB (Mayfield) and obvious holes on defense. That’s especially true when the team had a history of losing like the Browns.

3. This time, the Browns have a QB/coach combination that was 11-5 last season. Won a playoff game on the road against the Steelers who won the division.

4. Then add free agency and the draft which will start 8/9 new defensive players. A defense that held them back from going further last year.

The hype this year is the Bucs. They won 11 regular season games. Got hot in the playoffs.

The season of course can put egg on any team. Once the playoffs begin anything can happen.

However, outside of catastrophic injuries I can not see the Browns not making the playoffs.

Except back then we didn’t know Freddie was a turd of a coach. Now we know we have the coach of the year.

We always lose to Detroit and the Broncos. We will lose to one of them.

Always is doing a lot of work here.

Always does....and I think you know that always doesn't always mean always.

Kinda enjoy that we get green bay towards the end of the season.

Gives us an idea of who we are and who they are by that time. Could be in contention for a playoff spot and that's scary. But I wouldn't want to see the packers in the middle of the season... that's the meaty area where the good teams are just waking up and making adjustments.

That you have Steelers and then Bengals after them is worth it too. The Steelers are old in a lot of areas... should be interesting if they fade like they did last year.

And Cincy is just unproven. And Baker has shown that he has their number

THis is the first year in the longest time I could remember where it's like. I've actually been hyped for the next season. I've had this feeling for Baseball and Basketball... don't really remember for football...

JUst so damn excited

I agree with you that people are waiting to see if it's consistency or an anomaly.

Consistency is tricky way to phrase it. Yes, we are going into our second season with more talent and the same coaching staff. Our defense on paper looks vastly improved. Our O seemed to get better late in the season. All positive signs moving forward.

But if it's possible for our die hard fans to do, let's just look at the word consistency itself. Does one successful season under a rookie HC actually fit the definition of the word consistency?

I think the average NFL fan who is not emotionally attached to the Browns sees the word consistency with a much longer term period of time in mind. I don't think one successful season for a team that has been terrible overall since 1999 fits the definition of consistency.

At this point I think the average person would question if it's an anomaly or the beginning of consistency. And I can see why they would view it that way.

Haven't won against Detroit since 01... won against Denver in 18... but the last win against Denver before that was 1990..

Which is 5 years before Baker was born.

And Cincy spent 3 draft picks on the offensive line, and free agency, and hired a new O Line coach, former coach to return, < and yet they Still did not properly address their weakness at left tackle.
( I spent 2 hours reading articles on their O line last week, apparently they didn't have a real right guard all last year, and they have 14 OL on the team and are ruining all of them.) Good for them, their starting safety stinks too, (analyticaly,) and played 99% of snaps.

To a Browns fan - this is consistency! lol.

I get what you're saying, Pit.

I think I'd trade out "consistency" for two conditions that may even be more valuable... continuity and upward trajectory. Those two (while, again, "young" in nature) are pretty much indisputable.

The Seahawks only drafted 3 players this year, 2nd fewest since whenever. They however still got Eskridge a WR. What happened to all the Seahawks draft picks.

The last time the Browns and Bills played in the regular season, The Browns won, but the Bills got robbed by a bad call imo, and Myles Garrett had to have a big game several times over that game, to keep it close.

When I read up on the Bills, they don't like their tight ends, they have bunch who stink, (people who don't like, Njoku, the bills are one of your #1 obsticales and they would love to have Njoku, or a tight end of his caliber.

I respect the Bills. They have developed a good sound team that is well coached.

Njoku came a long way last year. I expect him to contribute a lot this year especially in the red zone.

The Browns, Bills, Ravens and KC are all capable of winning the Super Bowl.

The Schedule according to the Browns website ended up the 2021 Browns regular season schedule

1 at chiefs
2 Texans
3 Bears
4. at Minnesota
5. at La Chargers
6. Cardinals October 17th
7. Broncos October 21st, Thurs. Night.
8. Pittsburgh
9. at Cincinnati
10 at New England
11. Lions, Nov. 21
12. At Baltimore Sunday Night, nov. 28th
13. bye week, --------
14. Baltimore
15. Raiders December 18th/19th tbd.
16. at Packers
17. at pittsburgh January 3rd. MNF. 8:15
18. bengals.
(And I'll add)

19 bye) First round bye
20 Divisional
21. Conference Championship
22. media week
23. Super Bowl.

24. Celebrate
25 clean up after celebration.

Later Parade.

My biggest concern isn't who we play, but rather, even though last season was good, we won a lot of close games, some against weak opponents. We also nearly blew huge/decent leads that we won. It reminded me a bit of the 1980

MY optimism comes from the fact that unless we lose a ton of starters our D should be vastly improved and could possibly be the strength of our team by season's end.

We went into prevent defense against teams in games we had huge leads. You can agree with that strategy or disagree with that strategy but that created a lot of close victories. If you actually re-watched some of those games you would see that some of those games weren't nearly as close as the score would indicate.

What's happening?

[img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E1Oawj-XMAArnw7?format=jpg&name=medium[/img]


Looks like higgins is ready

Gosh, we haven’t beaten Detroit since 01. I know we haven’t played them every year, but that sucks lol

Four meetings, four losses...

Fun Fact: Total combined record of those four Browns teams? 15-49

Not Fun Fact.

our injuries hurt us before our season began last year.

yuck

I like that we get Baltimore back to back with the bye in between. We will get to work on beating them for three weeks. Plus inbetween us, they play the Steelers.

I also like playing KC right off the bat. If you beat them, you have a strong start to the season. If you lose, being that it is so early in the year, will have little impact on playoff implications.

Shhhhhhhhh.... just let it happen.

This is utterly meaningless post-2020.
It'll mean something again if he earns it again.

Well, that system didn't get real players. John Dorsey.
There aren't many Browns teams since 01, except 07? that would fare well against the Browns current 2nd Options.
QB Case Keenum and Landry and DPJ/Higgins the lesser, and Hodge/Schwartz the lesser.
Hunt and D'Ernest or Felton the lesser.
Harrison Bryant and Carlson at TE, Nick Harris, Forbes, Alex ? at tackle, Chris Hubbard the other tackle .
Takk Mckinley and Clowney, plus Curtis Weaver and Porter Gustin at De, Andrew Billings and Tommy Togiai, plus Elliott at DL,
Sione Taki Taki, Tony Richardson II, and Malcolm Smith at Linebacker,
Ronnie Harrison, and Richard Lecounte at Safety.
Greedy Williams and M.J. Stewart at corner, Brian Allen/Rugumba/Rod Jones in the slot.

This 2nd options team stacks up against most Browns starters near 2011.

What? Dorsey was horrible. Don't ever mention his name again.

You cray lol

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dorsey_(American_football)

Thank You John Dorsey! Among others... ...
Well, He found Antonio Callaway in the 4th, which is enough, in itself, for me to get emotional in response to your don't ever comment above, but I'll get over it.

( I had no idea He was here to find so many players between Kelce and Vernon on that list, hmm.

Pesky little things facts are, ... I think in a few more years people; Browns people are going to look back more fondly on John Dorsey, esp. his time and decisions as GM for them.
" JOHN DORSEY!"
Baker, Chubb, Ward, Landry,
" That system didn't find real players," ... Oneil Cousins?

(Woody Harrelsons' comments to John whatever actor in the movie "A prarie home companion" in the backstage prior to taking, were splendid funny in my humble opinion.)

Just messin, love ya device, He chose your boy Baker, against the wind too; whom you've appeared to support in the past.

Hilarious.

Got to thank Dorsey for some of the very good players on this team - not the least of which is Baker. A weaker GM might easily have caved to pressure to pick a safer more prototypical QB.

That said - Dorsey also royally screwed the pooch. The Vernon trade never worked out and we lost significant talent. Vernon wasn't horrible - he just never came close to playing up to the level of what we gave up for him. To this point OBJ has underwhelmed as a Brown - whether that's just bad luck or poor decision making idk. Personally I am glad OBJ is on the team and I am looking forward to seeing BM and OBJ light it up. . . . . and I haven't even mentioned the reason Dorsey isn't even part of the FO anymore. Dorsey did something truly astounding in replacing the worst HC in the history of the NFL (Hue) with a HC who was even worse (freddie), almost a statistical impossibility, but somehow John found a way. And he wanted to keep him as I recall?

Very happy we are where we are at. Big fan of KS and Berry. Hope they continue to work together, get lucky together and be part of the Browns for a long time.

Really??

So it doesn't matter that Kevin Stefanski is the head coach?

Would you rather have Freddie or Hue or ......

I would rather have the 2020 Head Coach of the Year.

We play Ravens back to back...hmmm We do get a bye in between while the Ravens get the Steelers.

Detroit is going to be awful and one of the worst teams in the NFL. That will be an easy win for us. Browns play the Broncos at home so we should win that game also.

We should win, just like all the other times we were supposed to win, but didn't.

No doubt, I hope you are right.

I see some sellable games here. Bears and Steelers fans travel well. I think I am going to look at some resale sites

Sell those Steelers tickets now while prices are still high. Don't wait until the Steelers are 2-4 heading to Cleveland!

Agreed. There were more than a few games over the years that we should have won but didn't. I've brought this up before. Our lifetime records against Denver and Detroit are atrocious. We don't do well against the Chargers either. We have a better team this year, at least on paper, but we have a much tougher schedule. I only see us winning 11-12 games this year at best and right now I'm not overly confident about that. We'll just have to take a game at a time. JMO

Chiefs end up on the “good” end of that graph as well. It seems like they get a lot of little breaks like that with scheduling, time slots, bye weeks, etc. Mahomes definitely is the golden child

What it appears some people seem to be doing is basing long term prognostications upon short term results. That makes for a cautionary tale.

You seem to be misunderstanding the intent by taking it to some illogical extreme. To even suggest that anyone would rather have Hue or Freddie is that extreme.

But here's the point. Stefanski has been here for one season. That a career does not make. His accomplishments were fantastic. He did well by installing a new system in the face of Covid. He coached us to the playoffs. Those are all wonderful things and as a Browns fan I am very thankful for that.

But last year is over. A single season in the lifetime of a coaching career is a snap shot, not the feature film. So while we are all very hopeful the snapshot we saw last year is a preview of the feature film, the point is the jury has only seen a small piece of the evidence that is yet to unfold in the grand scheme of things.

I said it is not hype to have the NFL Head Coach of the Year returning.

It is not hype when you win that. In fact he is the odds on favorite to repeat.

There is no comparison to the hype for 2019 compared to 2021.

The team accomplished something in 2020. They did not accomplish a thing in 2018.

I do not see KS returning as HC of the year to this team as hype.

It is true he has been here for one year. And no one has a crystal ball. But if you are going to base future performance on something then base upon success of the past rather than what was not a success in 2018.

Arizona did not address their offensive line, in the draft, or do much for it.

I know the Browns don't blitz much, but with the Howitzers the Browns have to pressure the Qb this year, I hope,
It would be nice to see if they find a team with a poorly prepared O Line that is hoping for just another game,
to see the Browns defense go laser focus on really giving that other teams O Line a bad day,
By just blitzing their quarterback with all 22 starter level players on the defensive side of the ball.

A Real Shark Nado!

And I never said it was hype. I said a single season is a snapshot in the grand scheme of a coaching career. Long term prognostications are hard to make based on a snapshot.

My response was to Purple.

"Not hype when you have the returning Head Coach of the Year."


"This is utterly meaningless post-2020.
It'll mean something again if he earns it again."

It is not meaningless IMO.

I'm not sure how anything that someone did last year is meaningful in regards to what they may or may not accomplish this year. Each season is different. The injuries of your team and your opponents are different. The way the ball bounces is different every season. Sometimes you get the close breaks and sometimes you don't. The rosters of every opponent you face are different.

In 2014 Bruce Ariens was coach of the year. In 2015 he led the Cardinals to 13-3. In 2016 his record was 7-8-1.

In 2013 Ron Rivera was coach of the year. In 2014 he went 7-8-1

So as of opening day, what happened last year is meaningless. Each season stands on its own.

haahahah hilarious

I will. I will probably post them up in the next week.

I've got some to unload... do you sell them on Stubhub or Ebay?

I will sell through the ticketmaster site. That is the NFL approved site.

Like I said, I have never done it. I had this thing that I didn't want non browns fans sitting in my seats.

Screw that. Other than a few friends, no Browns fans were stepping up to buy my tickets, and they sure didn't want to pay face value, so to heck with them. If those fans want them now, they can pay the price, and the price isn't face, and it sure as heck won't be less.

There are a few, and they know who they are, who can still get a seat or two at face because they are friends. Maybe even less than face.

Laughed aloud a couple times there. Need to close the loop with playoff week or bye or something so Gordon gets re-instated again. Not certain which outlandish item I would most like to see, but I think it is the Squealers. Bloody brilliance, this is.

Browns go 12-5 - Win the North.

I remember asking you to let me know if you had tickets for sale. You never did, but you sold them to someone else. I never asked the price.

Odd.

Regardless, wife and I would like to go to the Browns Bears game, along with her sister and her husband, and their son. (he's 17 and a bears fan. he told his mom "I want to go to the Browns bears game with uncle Bobby)

5 tickets. I've been checking, and the prices now are beyond what we can - will - pay. I understand that. Tickets are a commodity that get sold at market value. If I had season tickets, I'd sell to the highest bidder also.

I seem to recall that. Not sure what game, or even when or who ended up getting them, but I can assure you it wasn't because you weren't on the list. Probably Billy who has bought more than a few from me over the years. That or I had several requests and went 1st come type of deal.

Now you have me feeling bad.

It should be mandated each divisional be game played once in the first half of the season, and once in the second half. One fast track, one slow track.

Schedule makers dropped the ball.

In theory I agree, but as the league puts together a schedule you might end up with some teams playing 3 games in a row on the road, or back to back west coast trips, or whatever it might be.

The point is there are a lot of factors that have to be balanced that might not otherwise be if they were set by some mandate.

The only real mandate I can think of is each teams gets a Thursday night game and I don't think there is a coach or player in the league that likes those. You might end up with some team getting 2-3 of those.

Scheduling isn't a easy process.

That was the point.

Incorrect.


Once again, you have no clue.

So it's not what both Peen and I got out of it? Maybe it's not everyone else who is getting it wrong.

Nobody cares what you got out of it except you.

Now, rush off to post in every thread again.

Yeah, Peen got it wrong too I guess.

Creepiest post in a long while.

Back to the Schedule. I find it hard to find 10 wins.

Every team in the AFC got an extra home game, home games are easier, every team in the AFC that's good will have an extra win, therefore 10-7 won't get anyone a playoff berth in the AFC in the 2021-2022 season.

Basically, An early likelihood of Wins losses I expect them at 9-8, (Only meaning it will take an extreme effort to overcome this into a better record.)

9-8 losing only one home game "Pittsburgh" all year.

And Winning only one Road game all year, A split of
weeks 4 and 5
At Minnesota
At LA Chargers. (winning either or)

Until they do something special to overcome.

Browns don't play the Dolphins, Bills or Jets, so that makes the game
"At Patriots" that much bigger. (pats bye is week 14, very favorable)

We can Assume the Chiefs will win their division. But!

If either the Broncos, Chargers, or Raiders rise up for a wild card slot, these results would aggregate out to a tie break + or - with an AFC South team.
And that makes the Texans game, the home opener that much Bigger.

If the Steelers sweep the Browns, with 2-4 in the division, splitting with Cincy an Balt, the Browns would most likely miss the playoffs,
Have to find some way to finish better.

I doubt it. Thinking back I felt bad at the time as well. That is just the way I am.

Arch is a friend. We have met on multiple occasions. The fact he is a friend is why I felt bad.

Detroit is Not going to be an easy win!
They've got Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Br. Perriman, and Goff to throw to them, Goff is no slouch.

and Detroit's D is no easy task either.

It would seem odd to me if you felt bad had he have been a stranger.

I've got season tickets this year. Not sure what games I'm looking to sell yet but when I do I'll PM you. I'll only ask face value which is 80 bucks.

There's a pretty good chance that Bears Browns game will be one of them.

OK! So, Every 13th year, or 7 years or so the Browns are a better team than usual, And I want to see, them, with, the opportunity,
to just Pounce on some other teams and dominate them.
And NFL scheduling, allows for some other 'upstart' team, who thinks they are 'something'
When really they are NOTHING, avoids playing the Browns, in the particular year where, the Browns would mop the floor with them.

And I'm rightfully angry at the NFL scheduling for denying me witnessing.

(Anybody who understands football, understands it's not linear. it's not, and never has been a case of, Well if A beats B badly, and B beats C badly then when C plays A, C has no chance.) (Quite the contrary, it is such a nuanced game,
That team C might be designed to absolutely Murtilate! A, but that process of design means they uphill struggle vs. B in the first place.

The problem is, there are two teams that are built like A, like both A's (and this isn't a first 2nd, 3rd ranking just random variables used to describe).
and one team, is a lesser versioin of the A model, but thinks they are the 'stuff!'
and another team, (Maybe my favorite, The Browns) are a Better Version of the A model, and knows they would take that :stuff- version team, and Knock em to the Ground!

But the schedule makers (random-ity/ness) causes My team, the Browns, to play a C model team, instead, and by design, even if they're a lesser version, Teams built like design A, struggle uphill with C model teams.

And then! We get a skewed sense of reality, where MY TEAM, DOESN'T GET TO MOP THE FLOOR,
And it's like in Boxing where one fighter ducks the opportunity for a match against a better boxer, because he knows he'd get his tail kicked.

And it's very Frustrating.

And when It's the Browns, who aren't in a position to be the dominant floor mopper but instead are in 'rebuild' 6 out of 7 years, the missed opportunities are even more frustrating!

For instance. in 2001-2002,
William Green! Tim Couch! and the 4 Deuces! K.JOhnson, Q.Morgan, A(e)Davis, and D.Northcutt,
Never got to mop the Floor, with the San Diego Upstart nothings!
(very frustrating imo)

in 2020-2021, The Browns! are going to uphill battle against the C model patriots w/ crazy QB situation,
But Won't get a chance, (because of scheduling)

To MOP THE FLOOR W/the upstart, lesser, Tua Lua loser Dolphins, for the 2nd year in a row, and after 2021, who knows who is coming back to the roster.
(Very Frustrating imo)

How frustrating? Here is a thought, (31, games, 21:00 total minutes long in game clock, play every team in the NFL once on the schedule, 10: minute first half, 11: minute 2nd half)
I never have to miss my Favorite Browns' chance, to Mop the Floor, with a lesser built, sorry team, who ducks the fight, by randomness of schedule.

It'll never happen and it shouldn't but I should get a chance to see the other matchups' that never occur.

If there is ONE MORE thing the NFL IS GETTING WRONG

It's Traditional matchups, the ole, Bears vs. Packers' PUKE!!
Redskins vs. Cowboys' PUKE!!

The NFL thinks they are a good thing. NO! THEY ARE DELUSIONAL!

TV Producers, and old NFL minds, Don't understand.

(Imagine if they realigned all the divisions every 16 years, Whoa! Wow, and all 32 teams were in a new division. Imagine how much better the NFL would be.)

They just aren't getting it!

This team does not carry any of the woeful baggage of the past. Who we always lost to is a history never to be seen for quite a while.

Just like the Steeler mystic is over and done and I see a turn on Ravens.

Broncos, Lions are not teams we should have problems with.

jmho a new era is here regarding the Browns. We got to get use to it.

I hope so.

Nearly every time we have been favored to beat the Lions, and don't.

Like you said, it's a new year.

I don't know what William Shatner taught you about the use of commas, but he's wrong.

None of the past matters when looking at this year's teams. Last year is a marginal indicator on the coming season, but only as a general baseline. NONE of that other stuff has any bearing, whatsoever.