With an 0-16 record this season and a 1-15 mark last year, Browns head coach Hue Jackson is obviously hanging by a thread – and a bare one, at that.
With that, then, he needs – the Browns need – a fast start. If they get out of the gate at 0-4, then it will not be pretty. It could cost Jackson his job right then and there.
So with 12 games left, another Browns season will have been ruined before it ever really had a chance to get going.
But getting off to a fast start will not be easy. It will be downright hard, in fact. The schedule won’t be released until about April, but the 13 opponents the Browns will play in those 16 games has already been determined.
There will, of course, be a home-and-home series against each of the three other AFC North teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, who went 13-3 to win the division title and earn the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs; the Baltimore Ravens, who just missed the postseason at 9-7; and the Cincinnati Bengals, who finished 7-9 and kept the Ravens from the playoffs by handing them a stunning defeat in the regular-season finale.
The Browns also have five home games against the:
*Atlanta Falcons (10-6), who are back in the playoffs and trying to make it to the Super Bowl for the second straight year.
*Carolina Panthers (11-5), another playoff team from the NFC South.
*Kansas City Chiefs (10-6), who won the AFC West.
*San Diego Chargers (9-7), who barely missed going to the playoffs.
*New York Jets (5-11).
There are also road contests against the:
*Denver Broncos (5-11), who are always tough to beat at home, especially for the Browns.
*Houston Texans (4-12), whose season exploded when rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson was lost with a knee injury.
*New Orleans Saints (11-5), who won the NFC South on tie-breakers.
*Oakland Raiders (6-10), whose incredibly disappointing season cost head coach Jack Del Rio his job.
*Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-11).
That slate doesn’t bode well for Hue Jackson. It just doesn’t.
