The Cleveland Browns came into 2024 with postseason aspirations. Finally, they'd have a healthy Deshaun Watson under center, they'd have Jerry Jeudy added to their wide receiving corps, and they'd be bringing back some key defenders in Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward to round out their team.
Instead, as all Browns fans know by now, 2024 was one of the worst seasons on record for the franchise. A 3-13 record - and probably soon to be 3-14 - defines a team that just never could seem to get it right on offense. Despite some excellent defensive efforts throughout the year, scoring remained a huge issue. So, losses piled, and we're now already looking ahead to 2025.
Ahead of Week 18 and a final bout with the Baltimore Ravens on the road, the Browns' opponents for 2025 were revealed.
Cleveland Browns opponents for 2025 revealed
Home opponents:
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cincinnati Bengals
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins
Tennessee Titans
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
San Francisco 49ers
Away opponents:
at Steelers
at Bengals
at Ravens
at Patriots
at New York Jets
at Las Vegas Raiders
at Chicago Bears
at Detroit Lions
The Browns will be taking on quite a few NFC titans at home, with the Packers, Vikings, and 49ers expected to head to Huntington Bank Field to square off with Cleveland. Of course, there are two games total doled out between all AFC North teams, so there'll be hopefully many more snow games to look forward to next season.
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There are also several teams on this schedule that the Browns didn't face off with in 2024. The Lions, Vikings, Bears, Jets, Patriots, Packers, and 49ers are all teams that Cleveland will be facing for the first time in years. Most of these teams are in the NFC, though, so it makes sense that they'd have limited experience playing against them.
Predicting just how well the Browns will do against these teams is tough, since we still don't know who Cleveland will have as their starting quarterback to begin the season and we've yet to understand how they plan on using their first round pick in the draft.
That said, a way too early prediction for their final record is 9-8. It feels possible that they'll take care of business at home against the Steelers and Bengals, but the Ravens are far too good with Lamar Jackson to beat them either at home or on the road. They could also beat the Dolphins, Titans, and 49ers at home. But, not the Bills, Packers, or Vikings.
On the road, it feels safe to say they can beat the Jets, Bengals, Patriots, and Raiders. But, beating the Lions, Bears, Ravens, or Steelers away from home sounds a bit too rich for a team just coming off a potentially 3-14 year. Depending on how the rest of the AFC shakes out 9-8 will either be good for a Wild Card spot or just barely missing the postseason.