The 2022 Cleveland Browns will be opening the season on the road against former quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Carolina Panthers.
That dynamic alone gives the game a fantastic narrative that will entice football fans to tune in.
The Browns are hoping for a victory to start their season on the right note.
It would also be a historic victory for head coach Kevin Stefanski’s men because the Browns haven’t achieved a Week 1 road victory in a long while.
The Browns have not won a Week 1 road game since… 1994.
Their head coach? Bill Belichick. pic.twitter.com/njvhR6pnzD
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 1, 2022
NFL on CBS tweeted, “The Browns have not won a Week 1 road game since… 1994. Their head coach? Bill Belichick.”
That year, the Browns defeated the Cincinnati Bengals at Riverfront Stadium to go 1-0.
They finished the regular season at 11-5 to enter the playoffs.
The Browns won their Wild Card game against the New England Patriots but lost in the Divisional Round to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Since then, the Browns had six more opportunities to repeat that feat.
Sadly, they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on opening day in 2010 and to the Steelers in 2014.
It became three straight years when the Browns lost to the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles in 2015 and 2016.
Over the last two seasons, the Browns lost Week 1 on the road versus the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs.
Getting A Good Head Start
The Browns have a chance to build momentum early in the season.
After their game against the Panthers, they will be facing the Jets, the Steelers, and the Atlanta Falcons in that order.
Cleveland could win two or three games from that stretch before the tougher part of their schedule commencers.
After the Falcons are the Los Angeles Chargers, New England Patriots, the Ravens, and the Bengals.
Those games should be more challenging than the first four.
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