Cleveland Browns: 2021 record prediction crushes over/under

By Nick Dudukovich | Sep 8, 2021

Cleveland Browns (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

The Cleveland Browns are the preseason pick of many pundits in 2021–as they should be.

With reigning Coach of the Yeaer Kevin Stefanski and and improved Baker Mayfield in the fold, there’s no reason to believe Cleveland can’t go further than the AFC Divisional Round.

So, just how many victories should Browns fans expect to see this season? Following the schedule release back in May, the win/loss totals were predicted here with the Browns coming out at 13-4.

After a strong training camp and preseason, there’s no reason to believe the Browns can’t make good on a double-digit victory season.

With that in mind, it’s unusual to see the Browns over/under projection on wins at 10.5, courtesy of Wynnbet. This is a team that won 11 games last season, entering new campaign where a game was added to the schedule!

Incredibly, some league execs aren’t buying the Browns, as one front office employee for another team had the Browns ranked as the eighth best team in the AFC. Another had them ninth! These people aren’t entirely buying Mayfield.

Writer Mike Sando added the Browns could see more losses this year because there’s the chance they might be as lucky as they were in 2020, when they went 4-0 in games decided by three or fewer points.

Sure, we all love to look at point differential and we want to beat the other guy by 70 as we do in Madden, but for fans who watch football every week, each game offers it’s own story. You play who you play on that Sunday and coming out with a win is all that matters.

Cleveland Browns win 2021 win prediction

If I had to make another prediction now that we’re knocking on the door of a new season, I might drop the Browns to 12 victories–only because there’s always a fluke game in which they could lose the Bengals or something in Cincinnati. Or maybe Kyle Murray plays the game of his life, the Browns get hampered by injuries in the secondary and Cleveland loses a game it should win against the Cardinals.

Otherwise, there’s victories to be had. The Browns get Cincinnati twice. The Lions and Broncos are on the schedule. The Steelers are trending down. Houston might be the worst team in football.

As for those execs not buying the Browns…I don’t understand. Stefanski’s offense will produce points. The Browns overhauled the defense adding new players at key positions such as corner (Greg Newsome), safety (John Johnson III), end (Jadeveon Clowney) and linebacker (JOK). Perhaps that will have something to do about “only” winning by three or fewer points.

At the very least, the Browns ceiling for wins should remain at 13, with the floor being 11. Either way, that trumps Wynbett’s over/under of 10.5.