CLEVELAND, Ohio — Forget the official strength of schedule rankings — Cleveland Browns analysts are sounding the alarm about a 2025 slate that appears brutally difficult from start to finish according to the “eyeball test.”
On the latest Orange and Brown Talk podcast, cleveland.com’s Dan Labbe and Mary Kay Cabot broke down a schedule that left them searching in vain for any semblance of a “soft spot” where the Browns might catch their breath.
“I’m just saying eyeball test. I can’t find a real true soft spot on, on this schedule,” Labbe admitted after reviewing the full 17-game slate.
Cabot emphatically agreed: “There really is not... there isn’t some little cushy part of this schedule anywhere. I mean, it just starts out tough and it stays tough.”
The Browns’ nightmare begins immediately with a murderers’ row of opening games: Cincinnati at home, at Baltimore, Green Bay at home, then at Detroit, before a London trip to face Minnesota.
“This is a very, very difficult stretch, very difficult first month for this football team,” Labbe warned, noting that four of their first five opponents were either playoff teams or narrowly missed the postseason in 2024.
The schedule offers little relief after that gauntlet, featuring a three-game road stretch (including a “home game” in London) that will test the team’s resilience. Making matters worse, Cleveland must face Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati to close the season — all potential playoff teams.
“If you are somehow hanging in there and hanging around and you get to that point and you have a shot at a wild card spot, you have to finish really, really strong,” Cabot explained.
While officially ranked just 13th in strength of schedule, both analysts believe that number severely underestimates the challenge ahead. “It seems tougher than that to me,” Cabot stated.
Part of what makes the schedule particularly daunting is the “juggernaut lineup of NFL quarterbacks” the Browns will face. After benefiting from facing multiple backup quarterbacks in past seasons, Cleveland must contend with Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and potentially Aaron Rodgers if he lands in Pittsburgh.
Even potential breaks against rookie quarterbacks might not materialize, as Cabot pointed out: “It’s really tough to beat some of these really good young quarterbacks coming into league these days,” referencing how Jayden Daniels torched the Browns last season as a rookie.
The schedule’s difficulty underscores the importance of the Browns’ quarterback situation, with uncertainty about whether Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, or one of their rookie signal-callers will take the reins against this gauntlet of opponents.
For Browns fans planning road trips, the schedule offers attractive destinations like Las Vegas, Chicago, and New York — but the team’s performance against this challenging lineup may determine whether those trips become celebrations or commiserations.
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.