Breaking Down the Cleveland Browns 26-27 Regular Season Schedule
The Cleveland Browns' 2026 regular season schedule has been released, and it is chock-full of 1:00 p.m. EST start times. 16 of the Browns' 18 games are currently scheduled for 1:00 p.m. kickoffs, with one primetime game and one contest currently unscheduled for time and broadcast. This season, the Browns will face the AFC and the NFC South Divisions, the New York Giants and the New York Jets in two contests at MetLife Stadium, and the Las Vegas Raiders in a November home game, in addition to their regularly scheduled games against divisional opponents. As it stands, only one game is currently scheduled for a primetime slot, as Cleveland will welcome the rival Pittsburgh Steelers into Huntington Bank Field to open Week Four on Thursday night. This season, the Browns will play the league's easiest schedule based on the 2025 win percentage of their opponents, and will travel the second-fewest miles of any team in 2026.
Coming off a disappointing season that still showed glimpses of a promising future, the Browns will look to improve on their record of 5-12 with a schedule that only features four opponents who made the postseason a year ago. Those teams, the Steelers, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Carolina Panthers, all lost in either the Wild Card or Divisional Rounds. Heading into the 2023-2024 NFL season, Cleveland actually played one of the easiest slates of all teams that year, which ultimately boosted the Browns into the NFL Playoffs for just the third time this century. That season was also the last time projected starting quarterback Deshaun Watson was able to play a handful of competitive games before injuries wreaked havoc on his career. Should he be tabbed as the starter, as the media is projecting, the former Clemson Tiger may be able to stay healthy and bring the Browns back to the postseason.
As for Cleveland’s sole primetime matchup against Pittsburgh, new head coach Todd Monken probably would not have it any other way. In six Thursday Night Football contests between the Browns and Steelers, Cleveland holds a record of 4-2 and has won three in a row dating back to 2019. This season will also see the second edition of Baker Mayfield squaring off against the team that drafted him as the first overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, as the Browns will head to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers in Week Two. The following weekend, the Panthers will travel up north for Cleveland’s home opener.
