The Cleveland Browns were given a fortunate oddity when the 2026 NFL schedule was officially announced. They will play four consecutive home games, a streak that includes their bye week.
After playing at the New Orleans Saints in Week 9, the Browns will not have another road game until Week 15, when they visit the New York Giants. In between, they will host the Houston Texans, Las Vegas Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons.
That means the team will not have to leave Cleveland for more than 40 days, and with that in mind, ESPN insider Daniel Oyefusi is making a bold prediction about the Browns’ tough homestand, saying they will win all four of those games.
“The Browns will go undefeated in their four-game homestand to get back into the AFC playoff hunt. Between Cleveland’s unsettled quarterback situation and as many as five new starting offensive linemen, it could be a bumpy start for an offense that will have to go on the road several times in the season’s first half. The offense, though, should get its footing a bit after the Browns’ Week 11 bye and will rack up some wins at home with an elite defense,” Oyefusi wrote.
If that is the case, the Browns should be in contention for a playoff spot, as Oyefusi said. Though six of their first 10 games of the season are on the road, including a potentially concerning stretch of four in five weeks, they are also against some of Cleveland’s weakest opponents, including the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans and New Orleans Saints.
Cleveland did have four consecutive home games during the 1990 season. Yet, according to CBS Sports, the Browns would be one of the few NFL teams to have four in a row since then, including the Baltimore Ravens in 2021, the league’s first 17-game regular season, and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020, which was the pandemic-influenced campaign. Among the six teams with a recent four-game homestand, five went at least 4-0 or 3-1 in that stretch, with only the 2015 Titans below .500 at 0-4.
On the downside, the Browns will then have to finish the season with three of four games on the road. That includes important AFC North matchups at Baltimore in Week 16 and at Cincinnati in the season finale, and a meeting with former division rival John Harbaugh as head coach of the Giants.
If they can reach that point of the campaign still with the goal of playoff contention, those road games will determine Cleveland’s postseason fate.
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