Top 4 defenses on the Cleveland Browns schedule in 2024 ranked

The NFL schedule will be released on Wednesday night and while the Cleveland Browns know who they will play in Week 1, they're still waiting to find out when they will face the remainder of their opponents.

On Monday, it was announced that Cleveland would open up the regular season at home against the Dallas Cowboys. This will also be the first game Tom Brady calls as an announcer, with FOX breaking the news that he will be on the mic.

As we await the rest of the schedule, we can look at which teams will be on the slate and identify the four toughest defenses the Browns will have to go up against.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers

As frustrating as the Pittsburgh Steelers can be, it's hard to ignore how good they are on defense. This past season, they weren't at their best as they surrendered 5,816 yards, landing 21st in the league. Much of that had to do with their offense being awful and failing to keep their defense off the field.

Despite being out there constantly, and surrendering a ton of yards, the Pittsburgh defense stood up when it mattered. They finished the year sixth in scoring, giving up just 324 points on the year — they still finished 9-8 thanks to the 28th-ranked scoring offense that finished with 304 points.

Led by T.J. Watt and his 19 sacks, the Steelers finished with 47 sacks and had 16 interceptions. Watt isn't as good as Myles Garrett — even though he thinks he is — but he's still a menace and the defense as a whole is rather deep, especially after signing Patrick Queen. Cleveland will have to face them twice and will need to be ready for a fight to pull off a win in either contest.