Regular Season Schedule

Orion

@bob806 said:

I think Thursday Night football should avoid division rivalry games, but what do I know.

They like division games for Thursday night because the travel is typically on the shorter side.

Tour2ma

Misc thoughts on the real sched...

Week 7 BYE is better timed than the fake sched...
... and we get the week to prep for NE.
the Week 5/6 turnaround is brutal... return from MNF on west coast to host the Seahawks? Scheduler could have kept us out west by making the 'Hawks an away game.
gets a lot more normal after the BYE...

hoorta

@the-gipper said:

Browns board tailgate party? For Z and Marco And the BRITs etc to come into town? That Sunday night versus the Rams seems like the ticket. I am seriously thinking about doing the road trip to Arizona for the December game and combining it with a week in Sedona. I think that almost worked out perfect with the schedule if I want to do that

That will be up to Z, Mark, and the Brits which week they prefer. The original tentative plan was for the opener- which is the Titans. Either game is OK by me. Yup, December road trip to Glendale doesn't sound too hateful....

htownbrown

I love this schedule. The Titans to open the season sounds better to me than Pitt. I'd rather hit those assholes in full stride anyway. 3 primetime games in the first 5 weeks. The AFCE are very winnable games outside NE. Plus, the Bungs 2x, Fins, and Cards in the last 6 weeks of the season.

This is the kindest I can ever remember the schedule maker's being to the Browns.

Nero

Guys... We have 3 home games (TEN, LAR, SEA) among first 7 games, not 2.

Game 8 is away, though.

TexasAg1969

@nero said:

Guys... We have 3 home games (TEN, LAR, SEA) among first 7 games, not 2.

Game 8 is away, though.

You are correct. When I posted that game 3 was tagged on the same line as game 2 (home) and I did not catch it. Makes me feel somewhat better since that run of 8 is followed by 3 home games. Corrected my posts.

TexasAg1969

The Titans game to start with Derrick Henry pounding away will show us how much or how little we have improved run defense. We MUST solve the ILB weakness from this point on or he will crush us 5-6 yds at a time. He runs over inferior ILBs.

ATOM

only one divisional game before Hunt can join the team

domcucch1994

Let's not jump ahead of ourselves...

We are still a few defensive pieces away from being playoff contenders..

8-8 is where I expect this team to finish... Maybe 9-7 if were lucky

choco

So I guess we need an entire squad of all pros to be considered contenders?

Tour2ma

@choco said:

So I guess we need an entire squad of all pros to be considered contenders?

Nah... but we need to actually win games.

Being 2-4 after six games is a real possibility. That will test the cohesion of a young team trying to gel... not to mention a fan base with oversized expectations.

Week 6 will be huge. We will face a good Seattle team, who has 10 days to prepare for us (their Week 5 game is hosting LAR on TNF), on the Sunday after our MNF game at SF. We will take the result of that game into the BYE with NE waiting on the other side.

domcucch1994

Zombo said:

So we are a half game better with Richardson, Vernon, OBJ, Hunt (4 Pro Bowlers) an improving Mayfield and another Dorsey draft ... not too mention a half season without Hue?

If you look at our front four, it is playoff-ready. Secondary is solid. I think Avery will make more plays than Collins did ... I think the optimism is warranted.

Zombo

We aren't shit until we can win consistently.. Remember expectations after 2007?

Whose to say we don't flame out and go 6-10?

Not saying I want that, but all this talk about winning the division, sweeping the AFCN, I mean it sounds great and all,

but we haven't put together back-to-back seasons of AT LEAST 7 wins in well over a decade!

9-7 is where they will finish... Maybe.

Still a young team, first year HC.

Injuries are always a concern...

I just hope these "expectations" don't have the opposite effect on this team like we've seen in the past..

hoorta

@tour2ma said:

Nah... but we need to actually win games.

Being 2-4 after six games is a real possibility. That will test the cohesion of a young team trying to gel... not to mention a fan base with oversized expectations.

Week 6 will be huge. We will face a good Seattle team, who has 10 days to prepare for us (their Week 5 game is hosting LAR on TNF), on the Sunday after our MNF game at SF. We will take the result of that game into the BYE with NE waiting on the other side.

Both the first two are winnable Tour. That happens, the train starts a rollin'. Don't see 0-4 after that... I agree playing the 49ers on MNF, and then a real short week to play the Seahawks coming off a bye in Cleveland, the schedule makers didn't exactly do us a favor there...

Browns149

@hoorta said:

Both the first two are winnable Tour. That happens, the train starts a rollin'. Don't see 0-4 after that... I agree playing the 49ers on MNF, and then a real short week to play the Seahawks coming off a bye in Cleveland, the schedule makers didn't exactly do us a favor there...

Seattle playing a 1pm eastern game isn’t easy for them either

Mark O

@hoorta said:

That will be up to Z, Mark, and the Brits which week they prefer. The original tentative plan was for the opener- which is the Titans. Either game is OK by me. Yup, December road trip to Glendale doesn't sound too hateful....

Week 1 vs. Titans will be the annual trip and tailgate. There's also talk of coming in for the 11/10 game and possibly a tailgate to also remember Stan. But the official Browns Board Tailgate game will be week 1.

MLD Woody

Got 9/23 and 11/17 off from work

The Gipper

@mark-o said:

Week 1 vs. Titans will be the annual trip and tailgate. There's also talk of coming in for the 11/10 game and possibly a tailgate to also remember Stan. But the official Browns Board Tailgate game will be week 1.

I will be out of town that first game so I guess I won’t see you then but hopefully November.

choco

@tour2ma said:

Nah... but we need to actually win games.

And since they can't play games till August, let's allow people to be a lil excited. Because it's not like it's been decades or anything....

TexasAg1969

@hoorta said:

Both the first two are winnable Tour. That happens, the train starts a rollin'.

??Count 'em too early and we're f'd. LOL!?

I would not start to ? just yet.?

jiggins7919

@domcucch1994 said:

Let's not jump ahead of ourselves...

We are still a few defensive pieces away from being playoff contenders..

8-8 is where I expect this team to finish... Maybe 9-7 if were lucky

I'm exactly where you are, my friend. Maybe it's because I still remember 2008 VERY well, but I tend to agree with 8-8. The difference with my opinion is I can see 10-6, ESPECIALLY if we split the first 8 games because I think the second half of the schedule lightens up just a bit, but I can also see us winning only 6 games.

Now, I’m the first to admit that our team is a much different animal than the 2008 squad, but I’m not sure fans truly remember the amount of hype we had going into the year. Not only did we fail to live up to the hype, we were an unmitigated disaster from the GET-GO. Weird injuries in preseason, cuts that didn’t heal, touchdowns dropped (ahem, Braylon), and every other problem you can think of. We came into that year the darling of the AFC North, and we crapped the sheets IMMEDIATELY.

Ok, so referring back to 2008 isn’t very scientific in terms of prognosticating a win-loss schedule. So what else is going on? Three things, and while I’m sure they’ve already been discussed in these 3 pages, I’m going to apologize in advance for not reading every post. Here are my 3 reasons for predicting between 6-10 wins (I know you guys are very excited! LOL)

1. Defense. I do not trust our defense yet, and while I’m excited to get a new DC and new scheme, we have holes at LB, CB, and Safety. Jabril Peppers wasn’t an allstar, but he was starting to play a bit better, and we’re still going to feel his absence. I mean, he almost singlehandedly beat the Broncos for us with his incredible end zone interception and the 4^th down sack. We’re still missing that “thumper” style linebacker, and what hurts the most is we HAD HIM in Michael Kendricks, but obviously we had to cut him.

2. Field Goal Kicker. Ok, stop laughing, and hear me out. If we had a stud FG kicker last year, what do you think our record is? I mean, just look at the close games we lost. Pittsburgh and New Orleans were the first two games of the year, and both games basically came down to kicks. What about the last game of the year against the Ravens? We go for it on 4^th and 10 instead of kicking the 56 yard FG. Obviously I understand that 56 yards if FAR from a gimme, but if you had a good kicker, you probably go for the kick, right? Heck, we lost to the Bucs in overtime on a 58 yarder. And the weather wasn’t THAT terrible in Baltimore. Greg Joseph has the physical tools to be a good kicker, no doubt. Plenty of leg and all that, but even several of his MADE attempts got between the uprights by the grace of God himself. Remember the “slice kick” he had against the Jets I think? Where it started left and sliced back right? LOL! How about the game-winner against the Ravens? That should NOT have gone in, hahaha. How many extra points and FG’s JUST went through? Until we get a good FG kicker, I can’t predict us to get more than 10 wins, and 10 is the high side for me.

3. Injuries. Now, this is something that applies to every team, and it’s not even fun to talk about, but I don’t even know who our backup QB is going to be. Drew Stanton? I know he’s got a solid starting record, but I don’t think he’s the guy you REALLY want out there if the unthinkable happens. I also don’t put much stock in Denzel Ward’s health. He’s one of my FAVORITE players, and my heart breaks for that kid, but 3 concussions in like 7 weeks is NOT good, especially as a rookie. It’s got to be on his mind nonstop, ya know? How can he NOT be hesitant? I hope I’m wrong, I really do, but for us to maximize our potential, we need our allstars, and he’s so talented…we need him out there in the secondary.