Dawgs By Nature
So far, the Browns schedule has been soft but its hasn’t mattered
If the Cleveland Browns are going to turn their season around, which there is real reason to doubt that is possible, it will have to start with this four-game stretch. The Browns schedule has been the easy part of their season but they still sit with a 1-4 record.
Leaving the next four games with at least three victories (a 4-5 record) would keep Cleveland’s hopes alive. The next four opponents on the Browns schedule combine for a .500 record and just one winning team.
On the other hand, as we noted in looking at the team’s current NFL draft positioning, strength of schedule plays a primary role in tiebreaker scenarios as well.
This week, the reinforced Philadelphia Eagles are 2-2 and are coming off of their bye week. AFC North and in-state rival Cincinnati Bengals have also had a poor start at 1-4 and are on the schedule for Week 7 with the 3-2 Baltimore Ravens, the lone team with a winning record as of now, up after that.
Those last two games come at home.
The final game of this four-game stretch is right before the NFL trade deadline and is also a home contest with the Los Angeles Chargers coming across the country.
Currently, the Browns are slotted with the third overall pick with a strength of schedule of .506 which ties them with two other teams. The New England Patriots (.434 SOS) and the Bengals (.488 SOS) are ahead of Cleveland due to the SOS tiebreaker.
If the Browns want to rekindle hope this season somehow, the next four games matter. If they cannot, the team will be hoping to play teams with the worst record possible by the end of the season to strength their NFL draft slotting.
