If the Cleveland Browns are to make back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in over three decades, they’re going to have to navigate through the NFL’s toughest schedule to do so.
With a strength of schedule percentage of .547, the Browns officially face the most brutal 2024 path of anyone.
With the controversial Deshaun Watson sidelined with injury, the Browns became one of the feel-good stories of the league last season.
Led by a rejuvenated Joe Flacco, Cleveland successfully punched their ticket to the postseason. However, they were quickly eliminated by C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round.
The road to the playoffs will be even tougher for the Browns this time around.
Flacco is out and Watson is back in.
Time will tell if that’s a good swap or not. But the fact remains that there is a very strong likelihood that Watson’s enormous five-year, $230 million contract will go down as one of the worst in sports history.
Needless to say, he needs a big bounce-back year if Cleveland is to have any chance at making noise in the AFC playoff picture.
The Browns will face 12 teams that finished with a winning record in 2023.
Their home schedule is brutal in particular as five of their eight games are against teams that made the playoffs a year ago – Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Kansas City, Miami and Dallas.
That’s not to mention the Bengals who would have most likely made the playoffs if Joe Burrow didn’t get injured.
AFC North rivals, the Baltimore Ravens, face nearly as difficult of a schedule as Cleveland does.
Coming in second in the strength of schedule rankings, the Ravens face a brutal road stretch with challenging matchups against playoff-caliber teams such as the Chiefs, Bengals, Browns, Steelers, Texans, Cowboys and Buccaneers.
In stark contrast, the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints emerged with the least daunting schedules, both facing a strength of schedule below .465.
The addition of the 17th game to the NFL season has stirred up dynamics in strength of schedule calculations, with top teams now facing even tougher slates.
The entire rankings for strength of schedule across the league goes as follows…
| Rank | Opponents’ 2023 Record | Opponents’ 2023 Win % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Browns | 158-131 | .547 |
| 2 | Ravens | 155-134 | .536 |
| 3 | Steelers | 154-135 | .533 |
| T-4 | Packers | 152-137 | .526 |
| T-4 | Texans | 152-137 | .526 |
| T-6 | Bills | 149-140 | .516 |
| T-6 | Giants | 149-140 | .516 |
| T-8 | Jaguars | 148-141 | .512 |
| T-8 | Raiders | 148-141 | .512 |
| T-8 | Patriots | 148-141 | .512 |
| 11 | Lions | 147-142 | .509 |
| T-12 | Cowboys | 146-143 | .505 |
| T-12 | Rams | 146-143 | .505 |
| T-12 | Jets | 146-143 | .505 |
| T-12 | 49ers | 146-143 | .505 |
| T-16 | Bengals | 145-144 | .502 |
| T-16 | Chiefs | 145-144 | .502 |
| T-16 | Vikings | 145-144 | .502 |
| T-16 | Commanders | 145-144 | .502 |
| 20 | Broncos | 143-146 | .495 |
| T-21 | Colts | 142-147 | .491 |
| T-21 | Eagles | 142-147 | .491 |
| T-21 | Titans | 142-147 | .491 |
| T-24 | Cardinals | 141-148 | .488 |
| T-24 | Dolphins | 141-148 | .488 |
| T-24 | Seahawks | 141-148 | .488 |
| T-27 | Chargers | 138-151 | .478 |
| T-27 | Buccaneers | 138-151 | .478 |
| T-29 | Panthers | 135-154 | .467 |
| T-29 | Bears | 135-154 | .467 |
| T-31 | Saints | 131-158 | .453 |
| T-31 | Falcons | 131-158 | .453 |
Being the ultimate league of both parity and unpredictability, strength of schedule only counts for so much.
After all, a good amount of teams that were bad in 2023 will be good in 2024 – and vice-versa.
Having said that, what are your thoughts on the strength of schedule rankings as we head into the new season?
What’s your (very) early Super Bowl prediction???