CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Browns' 2024 schedule was released along with the rest of the NFL slate on Wednesday, May 15.
Cleveland will face a quartet of AFC contenders in the final month of the season, a stretch that will likely decide whether the team returns to the playoffs for a second straight year.
The Browns will host the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 15 before traveling to Cincinnati for a Thursday night game against the Bengals. Cleveland returns home to host the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night before concluding the regular season on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. A road matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers on a short week precedes the daunting four-game conclusion to the regular season.
Here's what's in store for the Browns:
Browns 2024 regular-season schedule
Week 1: Sept. 8 vs. Dallas
Week 2: Sept. 15 at Jacksonville
Week 3: Sept. 22 vs. New York Giants
Week 4: Sept. 29 at Las Vegas
Week 5: Oct. 6 at Washington
Week 6: Oct. 13 at Philadelphia
Week 7: Oct. 20 vs. Cincinnati
Week 8: Oct. 27 vs. Baltimore
Week 9: Nov. 3 vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Week 10: BYE
Week 11: Nov. 17 at New Orleans
Week 12: Nov. 21 vs. Pittsburgh (TNF)
Week 13: Dec. 2 at Denver (MNF)
Week 14: Dec. 8 at Pittsburgh
Week 15: Dec. 15 vs. Kansas City
Week 16: Dec. 19 at Cincinnati (TNF)
Week 17: Dec. 29 vs. Miami (SNF)
Week 18: TBD at Baltimore
Strength of schedule: .567 (toughest)
Over/under: 8.5
Biggest takeaway
The Browns have the toughest schedule in the NFL and their most consequential games mostly land during the stretch run. Three of their final four opponents made the playoffs last season. Twice in a three-week span late in the season, the Browns will have to face the Steelers, who won 10 games and made the playoffs in 2023. There's always little room for error late in the season with playoff seeding on the line, but even more so for Cleveland with so many critical divisional and conference matchups.
Revenge game
Cleveland doesn't face the Houston Texans, who ended its 2023 season in the wild-card round, and the Browns split the season series with every team in the AFC North last year. But in Week 13, wide receiver Jerry Jeudy will make his first trip back to Denver since the team traded him to Cleveland this offseason. Jeudy didn't live up to his first-round standing in four seasons with the Broncos but he'll have a prime-time stage to show they erred in trading him.
Bold prediction
The Browns will enter their bye week atop the AFC North with a 7-2 record. Cleveland's chances of a strong start will be boosted if running back Nick Chubb, returning from a pair of knee surgeries, is ready for Week 1. But there are winnable road games early against the Raiders and Commanders. The Browns also host three straight games against the Bengals, Ravens and Chargers before the bye. Cleveland will give itself some breathing room before a tough second-half finish.