CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The path back to the playoffs has been laid out for the Browns with the release of the 2021 season schedule Wednesday.
The 2021 slate features five playoff teams – the Chiefs (Week 1), Bears (Week 3), Steelers (Weeks 8 and 17), Ravens (Weeks 12 and 14) and Packers (Week 16). Based on 2020 season results, the Browns will play the ninth toughest schedule with their opponents compiling a 140-130-2 (.518) record last season.
“It's definitely a fun day for our fans,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “You start to see when we're playing everybody and hopefully start getting those tickets to some of these road cities so they can be a part of these road games for us. We as coaches certainly pay attention to it and start to map out certain things, whether it be our Week 1 opponent or looking at the schedule in its entirety and figuring out where you're going to plan practices accordingly.”
As announced Wednesday morning, the regular season kicks off Sept. 12 in Kansas City, a rematch of the Browns AFC Divisional playoff loss to the Chiefs and ends Jan. 9, 2022 against the Joe Burrow and the Bengals at FirstEnergy Stadium.
“Every year stands on its own merit. For us, the focus is on the 2021 season,” Stefanski said. “Now, I realize that last game, last year ended in Kansas City, so that certainly is something we have to learn from. It will truly be a matchup that is unique to 2021. The game won't start in the fifth quarter from last year's game.”
The Browns will play in each of the network primetime windows this season – Thursday night, Oct. 21 against the Broncos at home; Sunday night, Nov. 28 at Baltimore; and Monday night, Jan. 3 at Pittsburgh – and they will travel to Lambeau Field, where the tundra should be frozen, for a Christmas day game with the Packers at 4:30.
“Lambeau's a place I know well. It's an incredible stadium,” Stefanski said. “It's a matchup I know our fans will be excited about on Christmas Day and we're looking forward to playing in such a storied place like Lambeau.”
Like last year, the home opener comes in Week 2 but this time against the Texans, and on Sunday afternoon at 1, followed by a visit from Justin Fields and the Bears on Sept. 26.
Five of the Browns first eight games will be played at home – Sept. 19 against the Texans, Sept. 26 against the Bears, Oct. 17 against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals, Oct. 21 against the Broncos and the Steelers on Halloween, Oct. 31 – meaning they’ll be on the road for the majority of the second half of the season.
“This year, homefield advantage might be bigger than any year in recent memory with teams dealing with crowd noise week in and week out,” Stefanski said. “We're really excited to have nine home games in front of our fans in front of what I hoped is a packed building. I know what it sounded like with 12,000, so I can't wait to see what it's like with 67,895.”
The Browns travel to Minnesota to take on head coach Kevin Stefanski’s former team Oct. 3, followed by a trip to SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles against the Chargers.
November begins with back-to-back trips to Cincinnati on the 7th and New England on the 14th.
The Detroit Lions visit Cleveland before Thanksgiving on Nov. 21 before the Browns end the month in Baltimore.
“The Ravens are a team we have a tremendous amount of respect for, so we know we have our work cut out for us,” Stefanski said. “There are some really challenging matchups in our division, which is how we expect it.”
The bye week comes Week 13, Dec. 5.
The Ravens visit Dec. 12th and Raiders follow either on the 18th or 19th, with the kickoff time and date to be determined later.
Sunday night games from Weeks 5-17 are subject to flex scheduling and the Week 18 kickoff against the Bengals may also change.
The Browns will play two of their three preseason games on the road at Jacksonville and Atlanta with the Falcons game set to be broadcast by NBC. They will host the Giants in Week 2 of the preseason.
