Not bad at all

Now that the 2021 National Football League schedule is no longer a mystery, time to break down what the Browns will face this season.

First of all, it is not as bad as I imagined it would be. Here's why.

Only one of the eight road games (the Los Angeles Rams in week five) is more than one time zone away, necessitating a later start (Cleveland time) on the road. 

This is also a schedule that has the Browns playing on Halloween and Christmas. Nothing really interesting or shattering there. Just thought I'd throw that in because it might be a first in club history. Too lazy to look it up.

Moving along . . . .

Only three prime time games (all on the road), which usually mess with the rhythmic timing of the season, is a welcome sight. One is a Thursday night, sort of setting up a mini-bye week between games; the next is on Christmas day (a Saturday); the third is the following week on a Monday night.

Speaking of byes, this season's week off arrives in week 13, which gives head coach Kevin Stefanski and his staff three whole months to assess what went wrong and what worked. The last time the Browns byed in week 13, they finished 1-15 under he who shall not be named here.

An oddity creates what amounts to an NFL Oreo schedule sandwich for the Browns involving the Baltimore Ravens. The teams meet in week 12 at Baltimore and again in week 14 in Cleveland following the bye. The Ravens take on Pittsburgh in week 13.

Other than that, most of this season is comprised of games that start at 1 p.m. local time, which is more helpful to the coaching staff than one would ordinarily think. Goes back to that previously mentioned rhythm thing.

The Browns' reward for their 11-5 finish last season? The ninth-toughest schedule in the league this season. They play nine of their 17 games against teams that failed to make the playoffs last season. Of the other eight games, half are against division rivals Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

That's the bad news. The good news is the Steelers and Ravens own the top two spots in that category and Cincinnati is tied for sixth.

The league must have liked what happened so much in the AFC Divisional round when the Browns' playoff chase ended in Kansas City last January, it scheduled a rematch for the season opener in Missouri.

Really makes no difference where or against whom the season opener is for this iteration of the Browns, though. They have splendidly flunked games that begin seasons since they reemerged in 1999. They are 1-20-1 since, the lone victory at home over Baltimore in 2004.

(It would be 2-19-1 had linebacker linebacker Dwayne Ruud not tossed his helmet in celebration with the Browns holding a 39-37 lead in the 2002 season opener at home against the Chiefs, thinking the game was over with no time left on the clock. He was penalized by referee Ron Blum for removing his helmet on the field  (unsportsmanlike conduct), setting up a short Morten Andersen game-winning field goal.)

For all the preparation the last 22 versions of this franchise put in for game number one, they might as well have declared a forfeit and moved on to game two. For those who believe that won't happen Sept. 12, be advised Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II is healthy.

Mahomes carved up the Browns' secondary last season before leaving with a concussion and turf toe. Should be a good litmus test for the almost totally revamped Cleveland defense. 

After that, the schedule softens somewhat with five of the next seven games at home, where the Browns were 6-2 last season. That includes back-to-back games (Houston and Chicago) and three in a row (Arizona, Denver and Pittsburgh). They play consecutive games at home on three occasions. 

They then hit the road for three of the next four games (Cincinnati, New England and Baltimore) and finish with three of the final five games at home, including the season finale against Cincinnati.

Along the way, that new Cleveland defense will face a minefield of high-octane quarterbacks like Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Aaron Rodgers (probably), Matthew Stafford, Ben Roethlisberger in what most likely will be his final season, Derek Carr and Kyler Murray, Maybe Deshaun Watson in Houston if he clears his off-the-field problems.

By and large, it is not a killer schedule. It is quite the opposite of last season's soft schedule that helped produce the 11-5 and a playoff victory in Pittsburgh. This team, as constituted by General Manager Andrew Berry, is now good enough on both sides of the football to hold its own against some of the NF'L's elite as they strive to join them at that level.

It's a twisting road to the finish line that could have been much, much worse.