3 reasons the Browns can’t afford a Week 2 loss
By Greg Newland
No. 2: The Upcoming Schedule
While the Cleveland Browns got a bit of a softball schedule to open the season, it gets brutal quickly on them. Their first four games are winnable vs. the Panthers, Jets, Steelers, and Falcons. However, their next four opponents are the Chargers, Patriots, Ravens, and Bengals.
After the injury to T.J. Watt, I don’t think it’s out of the question to start this season 4-0. It will obviously be extremely challenging, but not impossible. However, they could still find themselves at 4-4 heading into the week nine bye.
The point is, if you want to have a shot at the playoffs once Deshaun Watson returns in Week 13, you must win the ones you’re supposed to. The Jets are certainly a formable opponent who can beat anyone on any given Sunday, but they certainly have their flaws.
Flacco is past his prime, they struggle to run the ball, and they don’t have a great front four on defense. The Browns have a clearly superior roster than the Jets and must have a game plan that pulls them ahead early.
As a player, it is hard to start looking ahead, but as a fan it’s easy, and if the Browns can’t win two of their next three games, they will have a zero percent chance of being in the mix when Watson returns.