A hot 3-1 start and a favorable upcoming schedule have shifted the narrative around the Cleveland Browns from 2026 being a mere rebuilding year to suddenly setting up to be a legitimate postseason charge in a competitive AFC North.
Just as everyone predicted, the Cleveland Browns will enter Week 5 as the top team in the AFC North following a thrilling, Thursday Night Football win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
At 3-1, and 1-0 in the division, Cleveland holds a tie-breaker over the 3-1 Baltimore Ravens who have yet to play a division game thus far. Ironically, that will come in two weeks against these Browns in what is sure to be a pretty important measuring-stick matchup for both teams.
Regardless of what happens against Baltimore, though, this 3-1 start has changed the entire outlook a season that most believed was a gap year for a franchise still searching for its franchise QB. Those conversations have been very much pushed to the back burner, though.
As ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi shared prior to their win over the Steelers, since 1990, teams that started the season 3-1 have made the playoffs 65.5% of the time, according to ESPN research. So yeah, it's not hyperbole to say that the playoffs are a realistic possibility for the 2026 Browns. Especially considering the advantageous schedule that lies in front of them.
Next weekend, the Browns will travel to New York to face a 1-3 Jets team that is averaging less than 20 points per game and many believe are actively tanking. Don't get it twisted, Gang Green have shown they can be plenty competitive at times, but it's a game where Cleveland is considered just a slight, 1.5-point road underdog.
On the other side of that barometer matchup with the Ravens is a road trip to Nashville to face a Tennessee Titans offense that is actively one of the worst in football. That unit is averaging just 13.8 points per game.
If the Browns even win one of those three matchups, they'll enter the month of November above .500 and very much alive on the playoff picture graphic that shows up in prime time later in the season.
A 2-1 or even 3-0 stretch, and they'll be in the driver's seat for a playoff spot the rest of the way. From there, matchups against the 0-4 Houston Texans, an equally surprising 3-1 Las Vegas Raiders team, the four remaining AFC North games, and a 2-2 Indianapolis Colts squad will likely determine whether or not the Browns really are a playoff team. Three final inter-conference matchups with the New Orleans Saints, the Atlanta Falcons and the New York Giants are sprinkled in as well.
Games down the home stretch that may have seemed more daunting back when the schedule dropped in May, suddenly don't appear so out of reach for a Browns team that is proving it can compete with anyone on any Sunday.
Todd Monken has this team believing. It's a dangerous thing for the rest of the opponents on Cleveland's schedule. Suddenly, a Browns season that was supposed to be about the future has become about the present as they look to turn a "throwaway season" into a memorable one.
It's an unexpected ride that Cleveland deserves. Enjoy it.
