CLEVELAND, Ohio — The NFL schedule release always brings a mix of excitement and trepidation, but for the Cleveland Browns and their fans, this year’s slate comes with an extra dose of difficulty. As revealed on the latest Orange and Brown Talk podcast, the Browns are staring down what analytics experts consider the second-toughest schedule in the entire NFL.
“This is a really difficult schedule this year,” Dan Labbe emphasized during the podcast discussion. “This is a really challenging schedule coming up for this football team.”
The challenge begins with the recently announced “home” game against the Minnesota Vikings in London – a matchup that immediately puts the Browns at a disadvantage despite technically being the home team.
“This is kind of a tough break for the Browns because it’s supposed to be a home game, but instead they’re gonna have to go play in London against a team that has been on that side of the Atlantic Ocean for probably at least 10 days before that game,” Labbe explained.
Mary Kay Cabot concurred with the assessment: “The Browns, I think, aren’t going to be leaving Cleveland until about Wednesday, so they will have the disadvantage in terms of time change and getting acclimated and all of that sort of stuff.”
Beyond the London game, the overall schedule strength is daunting. According to Warren Sharp’s analysis based on Vegas win totals – a metric many NFL insiders consider more predictive than last year’s records – Cleveland faces the second-hardest schedule in the league, behind only the New York Giants.
“Just in terms of strength of schedule from a victories or won-loss record last year, I think the Browns are right up there at like number two or number three or something like that,” Cabot noted.
The gauntlet includes not only their always-tough AFC North division rivals (Ravens, Bengals, and Steelers), but also matchups with powerhouses like the Bills, 49ers, and the entire NFC North division, which features the Lions, Packers and an improved Bears team.
However, as Cabot pointed out, there could be a silver lining to this difficult path: “When sometimes in the years that you have an easier schedule, it can kind of be fool’s gold because you get lulled in this false sense of security, thinking that you’re really, really good. And then you hit the playoffs and you haven’t been battle tested during the season by some of the toughest teams in the NFL.”
This perspective suggests the demanding schedule could actually benefit Cleveland in the long run. If they can navigate this gauntlet and still make the playoffs, they’ll be better prepared for postseason challenges than they were after their 2023 regular season – which Cabot characterized as “a season in which they caught a lot of breaks” against injury-depleted opponents.
Of course, the schedule on paper never tells the complete story. Injuries, weather conditions, and timing all play crucial roles in determining actual difficulty.
Want to hear the full breakdown of the Browns’ 2025 schedule and why it ranks among the NFL’s most challenging? Check out the full episode of Orange and Brown Talk, where Dan Labbe and Mary Kay Cabot analyze every aspect of the newly released slate and what it means for Cleveland’s playoff hopes.
Here’s the podcast for this week:
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Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Orange and Brown Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.