After a year of being the media darlings, the 2020 Cleveland Browns will be much less conspicuous on the national scene. The schedule features just two primetime games for Kevin Stefanski’s Browns.
That’s a sharp contrast to last year. The buzzy Browns had four games on the national primetime schedule, projected as rising stars with trendy young standouts like Baker Mayfield, Myles Garrett, Odell Beckham Jr. and Nick Chubb. Freddie Kitchens and his staff couldn’t handle the spotlight and weren’t ready for primetime.
Losing some luster off the national profile can only help Stefanski in his rookie coaching season. His Browns are more under the radar, not the chosen buzzworthy team. The Browns play just once on Thursday Night Football and one Monday Night Football date.
Week 2 will be the debut of Joe Burrow on the national stage. The No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft leads his Bengals into FirstEnergy Stadium for Thursday Night Football on Sept. 17th. That’s right — the attention in Cleveland’s first primetime game won’t even be focused on the Browns.
The Monday Night Football home date with the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14 could be a huge game. Lamar Jackson vs. Baker Mayfield. The Browns’ star-studded supporting cast against the Ravens’ relative no-names around their MVP star. That game is an easy sell even if the Browns, or the Ravens, fall well short of expectations.
Another game could get flexed into primetime in Weeks 15 and 16. Hopefully these Browns will be deserving of getting flexed into those situations instead of being moved out.
Check out game-by-game score predictions from around the NFL Wires network:
Buf / Mia / NE / NYJ // Bal / Cin / Cle / Pit // Hou / Ind / Jax / Ten // Den / KC / LV / LAC //// Dal / NYG / Phi / Was // Chi / Det / GB / Min // Atl / Car / NO / TB // Ari / LAR / SF / Sea