CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns will open the 2020 season on the road at Baltimore Sept. 13 and host the Ravens on Monday night football Dec. 14 in one of two scheduled primetime appearances this year.
The first will come for the home opener – Thursday, Sept. 17 against No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow and the Bengals at 8:20 on NFL Network.
Overall, the Browns will play 12 games at 1 p.m. and five of them are scheduled to be broadcast on FOX.
They'll face four 2019 playoff teams – the Ravens (twice), Titans, Texans and Eagles.
“I think it's really an exciting day when you get this schedule,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “As coaches, we look at it and start to put some plans in place. We knew who we were playing, we knew where but now to see it all put together certainly is a really fun time for our coaching staff to map out our plan as this offseason continues on.”
Cleveland hasn’t won a division title since 1989 and they’ll have an opportunity to get off to a quick start by squaring off against the AFC North the first two weeks of the season.
“We're excited to get to work against some great opponents,” Stefanski said. “The AFC North has some really good football teams and we'll get to see a couple of them early. We see the division champs there in Week 1 and then are really excited to get back in front of our fans that Thursday night vs. the Bengals.”
Washington will visit Sept 27 at 1 p.m. before the longest flight of the year – to Dallas for a 1 p.m. kickoff Oct. 4. There will be no Thanksgiving turkey bowl with the Cowboys, which might come as a disappointment to some fans.
The Browns will play one game in the prime 4:25 window on CBS Oct. 11 when they host the Colts at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Oct. 18 and 25 will see the Browns travel to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati before returning home Nov. 1 to host the newly minted Las Vegas (we almost wrote Oakland) Raiders.
The Browns bye week falls in Week 9 Nov. 8 in between a three-game homestand.
“A lot of times we break the season into quarters, so it does make it easier when the bye is right smack in the middle there,” Stefanski said. “We've got the first eight games, and then know we have an eight-game stretch after that.”
The toughest stretch of the season follows the bye that will see them play four 2019 playoff teams in five weeks - home games against the Texans and Eagles Nov. 15 and 22 respectively, a trip to Tennessee Dec. 6 followed by the Monday nighter against the Ravens Dec. 14.
Nov. 29 the Browns will travel to Jacksonville to face former linebacker Joe Schobert and the Jaguars.
One of the biggest quirks in the schedule comes in December when the Browns will make back-to-back trips to MetLife Stadium to play the Giants on Dec. 20 and then return on the 26th or 27th to face the Jets.
The day and time of kickoff with the Jets will be determined later and likely depend on where both teams are in the standings. As of now, it appears to be a good candidate for the exclusive Amazon Prime streamed game, which would mean it would be Saturday the 26th.
“That's unique,” Stefanski said. “I don't know if I've ever done that before where you're staying at the same hotel and playing in the same building. It definitely will be a unique experience.”
The Steelers come to town Jan. 3 for the regular season finale at 1, which could be a prime candidate to be flexed to Sunday Night Football should the division or playoff spot be up for grabs. It marks the 10th time since 1999 the two rivals end the season against each other and the fourth time in Cleveland.
2020 CLEVELAND BROWNS SCHEDULE
PRESEASON
Week 1 (Aug. 13-17) - at Chicago Bears - Time TBD
Week 2 (Aug. 20-24) - at Green Bay Packers - Time TBD
Week 3 (Aug. 30) - Minnesota Vikings – 4:00 p.m./FOX
Week 4 (Sept. 3-4) - Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Time TBD
REGULAR SEASON
Week 1: Sept. 13 - at Baltimore Ravens - 1:00 p.m./CBS
Week 2: Sept. 17 (Thurs.) - Cincinnati Bengals - 8:20 p.m./NFLN
Week 3: Sept. 27 - Washington Redskins - 1:00 p.m./FOX
Week 4: Oct. 4 - at Dallas Cowboys - 1:00 p.m./FOX
Week 5: Oct. 11 - Indianapolis Colts - 4:25 p.m./CBS
Week 6: Oct. 18 - at Pittsburgh Steelers - 1:00 p.m./CBS
Week 7: Oct. 25 - at Cincinnati Bengals - 1:00 p.m./CBS
Week 8: Nov. 1 - Las Vegas Raiders - 1:00 p.m./FOX
Week 9: Nov. 8 - BYE
Week 10: Nov. 15 - Houston Texans - 1:00 p.m./FOX
Week 11: Nov. 22 - Philadelphia Eagles - 1:00 p.m./FOX
Week 12: Nov. 29 - at Jacksonville Jaguars - 1:00 p.m./CBS
Week 13: Dec. 6 - at Tennessee Titans - 1:00 p.m./CBS
Week 14: Dec. 14 (Mon.) - Baltimore Ravens - 8:15 p.m./ESPN
Week 15: Dec. 20 - at New York Giants - 1:00p.m./CBS
Week 16: Dec. 26 or 27 - at New York Jets - Time TBD
Week 17: Jan. 3 - Pittsburgh Steelers - 1:00 p.m./CBS
** Listen to every game on 92.3 The Fan, 98.5 WNCX and the University Hospitals Cleveland Browns Radio Network.
