It makes sense the Cleveland Browns’ Monday Night game would be early

The Cleveland Browns got their Monday Night Game early for a reason.

The Cleveland Browns have retooled their offensive and defensive schemes for the 2023 season. so even though it’s still Kevin Stefanski at the helm, the team’s offense and defense will be radically different from 2022. This is being done to better optimize the talent they have on the roster, namely Deshaun Watson on offense and Myles Garrett on defense.

For Garrett, it’s about getting him to the next tier, the Defensive Player of the Year tier. For Watson, it’s about getting him back to form. This means that, even if the scheme doesn’t work on defense, Garrett will still do Garrett-things. If the scheme doesn’t work on offense, then Watson will look even worse than he did last year.

It’s unknown how good the Browns are going to be; we don’t know. There are too many variables to say “yes, they’re going to be good” or “no, they’re going to be bad’. We don’t know. The NFL clearly doesn’t either, so they booked the Browns on a Monday night early in the season.

The Cleveland Browns could see more Monday Night games later in the year

Starting this year, the NFL will reserve the right to flex compelling matchups from Sunday to Monday and vice versa, depending on the record of the team. This means, if the Browns are doing well in Week 12, the Browns may end up getting far more Monday Night outings than expected.

It’s also possible that they don’t.

The Browns will still have to play that dreaded Thursday Night Game, however, as the Browns will take on Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets in Week 17 on Thursday Night. To see the Browns get a Thursday Night Game, this late in the season, some three months after their bye week, is just rough.