The Browns will play their last regular season game on the road at Cincinnati on Sunday, January 7, at 1 p.m., having secured a postseason berth in Week 17.
Now that Cleveland is guaranteed the fifth seed in the AFC and the Bengals were knocked out of the playoffs with their loss to Kansas City this past weekend, the game has no bearing on the postseason landscape.
It’s unclear which club will start any of its major players in what is effectively a meaningless game.
But there are a lot of games that will have a big impact on who the Browns play in the first round of the playoffs. At this moment, one thing is certain: they will play the AFC South champion the next weekend, regardless of what transpires.
With a game against the Tennessee Titans in Week 18, the 9-7 Jacksonville Jaguars are now leading the clubhouse. Nothing will change if the Jaguars win that game; they will still play the Browns on Wild Card Weekend. If they fall short, however, the AFC South title will go to the victor of a crucial game involving the Texans and Colts.
The NFL has scheduled that game for Saturday night at 8:15 p.m. The winner of that game will also receive a wild card berth at the very least. Baltimore and Pittsburgh, the Browns’ other two division opponents, will play each other earlier on Saturday.
That game, which kicks off at 4:30 p.m., is significant because a win or a defeat by the Steelers against the Jaguars or Bills would still guarantee them a wild card spot.
Speaking of the Bills, they take on the Dolphins in what may be the biggest game of the weekend, and if they win, they have an opportunity to win the AFC East. It is only fitting that Sunday Night Football will broadcast the game.
