The Most Anticipated Games on the Cleveland Browns 2026 Schedule
Another year, another season in which nobody has any positive projections for the Cleveland Browns. After they sent all-world pass rusher Myles Garrett in a trade to the Los Angeles Rams, the projections got even dimmer. Even still, there are a multitude of games for Cleveland on the schedule that will get any fan pumped. With the season set to kick off in exactly seven weeks, here are five games the Browns will play in 2026 that will be highly anticipated by the ‘Dawg Pound’.
Week 13, Atlanta Falcons
This home contest has already been circled by Browns fans, no doubt, and maybe even by Shedeur Sanders. Coming with the Atlanta Falcons will be their new commander-in-chief, former Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski. For a man who ushered in the most successful era of Browns football since 1999, Stefanski sure gained a whole bunch of detractors along the way. From his handling of the Baker Mayfield injury situation to his play-calling habits, the problems came to a fever pitch in 2025 after another horrible season and the fact that Sanders was held back in a major way by Stefanski.
Not only does this game have revenge match vibes written all over it for both sides, but it also comes late enough in the season to have postseason implications. Say Sanders really is that good, and he was held back by his old head coach, Cleveland could be teetering on AFC Wild Card status and win an overly emotional game. On the flip side, if the Falcons are inching close to the postseason, the game becomes even heavier for Stefanski. Either way, this game is going to be a real barn-burner.
Week Four, Pittsburgh Steelers
Coming in on the first of October, this Thursday Night Football match is currently the only primetime game scheduled for the Browns in 2026. In past TNF games between the Browns and their most hated rival, Cleveland has seemingly come on top, with wins in 2019, 2022, and 2024. The game will also mark the last time future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers will come to Huntington Bank Field, a stadium in which he holds a record of 1-1, with his last game being a crucial loss to Sanders and the Browns last December. Underneath the bright lights and against the Pittsburgh Steelers, history shows that anything can happen, and Cleveland fans have come to expect a win under these conditions.
Week Two, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
For the second time in four years since trading him in a failed move for Deshaun Watson, the Browns will head on the road to take on Mayfield. The last occasion came back in 2022 for the Carolina Panthers home opener, in which the former Oklahoma Sooner started and lost against the team that drafted him. Although the anger has probably died down on the side of the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner, especially since Stefanski has departed the AFC North Division and left to join Mayfield in the NFC South Division, the 31-year-old quarterback always plays with a chip on his shoulder and a powerful, emotional edge. Package that with the possibility of Watson starting against him, and this match will be must-watch television for Cleveland fans still sour about Mayfield’s departure.
Week Three, Carolina Panthers
This time, it’s the Carolina Panthers who will be playing the Browns in Cleveland for the home opener. Led by a different Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Bryce Young, last season, the Panthers made the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-2018 campaign. The offense is exciting and fun to watch, led by budding playmakers like Young, Tetairoa McMillan, and Jalen Coker. Obviously, this game is on the list due to it being the first home game of Cleveland’s season, but the matchup could still provide an intriguing matchup between two eager, talented competitors looking to break through to the next level.
Week One, Jacksonville Jaguars
It’s easy to put it on here, but nothing is quite as anticipated as the first game of the season. When it’s against a Jacksonville Jaguars team that is coming off a successful season but seemingly always struggles to beat Cleveland, fans will be even more excited. The Jags shocked the world in 2025, led by a resurgent Trevor Lawrence and a hotshot head coach in Liam Coen. However, heading into this one, the topic swirling around Cleveland’s water-cooler will be whether whoever is starting against Jacksonville was the right call.
