Browns have the 9th-hardest schedule in 2021 but easiest in AFC North

It won’t be an easy road back to the postseason for the Cleveland Browns in 2021. Cleveland’s updated schedule of opponents ranks among the 10 hardest in the league for the upcoming season.

The Browns opponents on the 2021 schedule combined to go 140-130-2 in 2020. That includes the 17th game on the schedule, a date with the Arizona Cardinals that was officially added last week.

The good news? Cleveland’s opponents have the weakest 2020 record of any of the four teams in the AFC North. Pittsburgh and Baltimore own the two toughest slates, and the Bengals are tied for sixth. The Browns finishing 11-5 but in third place in the division jacks up their strengths of schedule; no other third-place team finished with more than eight wins last season.