Browns to open 2021 season against Kansas City

The Cleveland Browns will open the 2021 NFL regular season on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The game will be a rematch of the Divisional Round playoff game from last season where the Browns saw their season end in a 22-17 loss.

While the NFL did not give the game the marquee Sunday night slot in Week 1, the Browns and Chiefs will be in the 4:25 p.m. national window as the league looks to kick off the season with a bang.

The Browns last won their season opener in 2004, so a win against the Chiefs would not only get that monkey off their back, but signal to the rest of the NFL that the Browns are serious contenders for a Super Bowl appearance.

The NFL season will start on September 9 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Dallas Cowboys. Other notable Week 1 games include the Pittsburgh Steelers hitting the road to take on the Buffalo Bills, the New York Jets going to Carolina to play the Panthers and former quarterback Sam Darnold, and the Baltimore Ravens going to Las Vegas to face the Raiders on Monday Night Football.

Cleveland’s home schedule includes the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Las Vegas Raiders, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals.

On the road, in addition to return matches with the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals, the Browns will take on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Chargers, New England Patriots and the Chiefs.

The rest of the schedule will officially be released tonight at 8, but games will likely leak out during the day, so we will track it all in this post.

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7:50 p.m. - The complete schedule is now live. The Browns will have their home opener in Week 2 against the Houston Texans, and surprisingly only have three primetime games scheduled for now - Week 7 against Denver on Thursday night, Week 12 at Baltimore against the Ravens on Sunday Night Football, and Week 17 at Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football.

The full schedule, with all games at 1 p.m. unless noted, is:

Week 1: @ Kansas City (4:25 p.m.)

Week 2: Houston

Week 3: Chicago

Week 4: @ Minnesota

Week 5: Los Angeles Chargers (4:05 p.m.)

Week 6: Arizona (4:05 p.m.)

Week 7: Denver (Thursday night)

Week 8: Pittsburgh

Week 9: @ Cincinnati

Week 10: @ New England

Week 11: Detroit

Week 12: @ Baltimore (Sunday Night Football)

Week 13: Bye

Week 14: Baltimore

Week 15: Las Vegas

Week 16: Green Bay (Christmas Day @ 4:30 p.m.)

Week 17: @ Pittsburgh (Monday Night Football)

Week 18: Cincinnati

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7 p.m. - In what might be one of the last updates before the schedule is officially released, the Browns will go to Minnesota in Week 4 to take on the Vikings, according to Pro Football Talk:

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6:10 p.m. - The Browns will reportedly host the Chicago Bears in Week 3, according to Pro Football Focus. Might rookie quarterback Justin Fields be in the huddle for the Bears by then?

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5:40 p.m. - The Browns will reportedly take on the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in Week 9 and then again at home in the season finale in Week 18, according to James Rapien of si.com:

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3:40 p.m. - The Browns will reportedly head to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers on Monday Night Football in Week 17, according to AroundThe412:

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3:15 p.m. - The NFL officially announced its return to London for the 2021 season, with the New York Jets playing the Atlanta Falcons on October 10 and the Miami Dolphins playing the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 17.

Both games will take place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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1:30 p.m. - The Browns will reportedly host the Denver Broncos for a Thursday night game on November 21, according to Tony Zarrella, sports director of Cleveland 19 News:

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12:40 p.m. - The Browns will reportedly hit the road to face the New England Patriots for a 1 p.m. game on November 14, according to independent NFL reporter Dov Kleiman:

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12:30 p.m. - The Browns have not won a season-opening game since 2004, while Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes has yet to lose a game in September as the Chiefs starting quarterback. Sounds like a good time for the Browns to end a pair of streaks come September 12:

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11:40 a.m. - For what it is worth, the Browns are currently 5.5-point underdogs to the Chiefs in Week 1.

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10:50 a.m. - The Browns will reportedly take on the Packers at Lambeau Field on Christmas Day, according to Master Tesfatsion at Bleacher Report:

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9:30 a.m. - The full Week 1 schedule, along with a reminder that teams can begin posting their schedules at 7:45 p.m., followed by the league’s full release show at 8 p.m.