With the 2021 NFL season beginning September 9th, the Cleveland Browns have much to look forward to. But what games should the Dawg Pound make sure to eye?
The Cleveland Browns are coming off a historic 2020 season, one that resulted in a Divisional Round playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Browns are now slated to start their 2021 regular season at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS on Sunday, Sept. 12.
With an extra game added this season, Cleveland Browns fans will get to enjoy an additional Week 18 before the 2021-22 NFL Playoffs commence. The Dawg Pound will also be treated to an additional Home game, with the team also participating in the average eight Away games.
With all of that said, let’s take a look at the top three games every Cleveland Browns fan should have circled on their calendars.
3. Cleveland Browns at Kansas City Chiefs (Week 1)
Every Cleveland Browns fan felt the heartbreak after the Browns were booted from the Divisional Round of the 2020 playoffs in a 22-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
In a matchup that saw the Cleveland secondary struggle to cover the Chiefs’ high-powered passing offense — and a questionable missed targeting call against safety Daniel Sorenson — many fans felt that the game may have favored the Browns had the calls been in their favor.
Luckily, the Dawg Pound does not have to wait long for redemption. The Cleveland Browns are set too take on the Kansas City Chiefs in a Sunday afternoon game that will see a new-and-improved Browns secondary take on the same powerful offense they met last year.
Should fans expect to see a physical game? It’s more than likely. Should Kansas City expect to be met by the Dawg Pound in full force? You bet.
2. Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens (Week 12)
After putting on arguably the best Monday Night Football game in recent years during their Week 14 battle last season, the Browns and the Baltimore Ravens are set to meet in primetime yet again this upcoming season, this time on Sunday Night Football.
In a game that consisted of offensive wonder and a late-game drive by an “injured” Lamar Jackson, Cleveland fell to the Ravens, 47-42.
This time around, Cleveland enters the game with a revamped defense and a few new offensive weapons, while Baltimore comes back without Pro-Bowl offensive linemen Marshall Yanda and Orlando Brown Jr., and without running back Mark Ingram II.
It’s hard to tell if these changes will affect the Ravens as much as they will the Browns, but one thing people can count on is that this game should be electric. There is no love lost between Baltimore and Cleveland, and under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football, fans might expect another high-scoring affair.
1. Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 17)
In what would typically be the last game of the regular season, the Cleveland Browns and rival Pittsburgh Steelers are set to meet on Monday Night Football.
After decimating the Steelers in the Wildcard Round of the 2020 Playoffs 48-37, the Browns return to the Steel City looking better than they were, while the Steelers enter the season with a depleted offensive line, an aging Ben Roethlisberger, and questions all around the defense.
This primetime throw-down should be a great indication of how the new Cleveland front seven holds up late in the season against a heavy run game (as Pittsburgh will likely start first-round pick Najee Harris).
Additionally, if the Browns manage to pick up a win in their home game against the Steelers, and manage to knock them off yet again later in this game, it will mark the first time Cleveland takes the season series in what feels like forever. In fact, it may even mark a turning point in the ongoing “Turnpike Rivalry ” that has plagued Browns fans for so long.
With fans being allowed back to NFL stadiums across the league this upcoming season, expect all three games to be loud and raucous. With the Dawg Pound hopefully leaving their losing ways in the past, expect to feel a heavy Cleveland presence in both home and away games this season.