The NFL schedule will get started in Week 5on Thursday night with another NFL matchup on the league network, as the Cleveland Browns will host the Buffalo Bills, two teams coming off of nice victories against favored opponents in the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens.
The game will pick up on the NFL Network at 8:25 pm on Thursday night and the Browns will be looking to improve to 3-0 this season after trading Trent Richardson, while the Bills will be looking to win two in a row after defeating the Ravens in Week 4. The Browns opened the season with two ugly losses to the Ravens and the Dolphins, but since then the team has played solid on offense and they are coming off a nice defensive performance against the Bengals, allowing just six points in the game.
Brian Hoyer has been very solid since coming in for Brandon Weeden, as he has passed for 590 yards and five touchdown passes over the past two games. Hoyer had three picks in the Vikings game while passing for over 300 yards, but against the Vikings he was much more efficient, throwing two touchdowns and over 260 yards while completing over 65 percent of his passes in the win. Hoyer might end up keeping the starting job even if Brandon Weeden comes back healthy and the team has two straight home games with the Bills and the Detroit Lions.
The Browns have a tough stretch to finish the first half of the season, as they will travel to Green Bay to play the Packers and then to Kansas City to beat the now-undefeated Chiefs, while the final game before the Week 10 bye will be against the Ravens at home after they played them on the road in Week 2. The Browns have looked much better since trading Richardson, but it remains to be seen how long that will hold up.
The second half of the season has some tough games and the majority of the matchups will be on the road, with four of the seven games coming away from Cleveland. The team opens with the Bengals after the bye in Week 11 on the road and then the team will be home against the Jaguars and the Steelers, two teams that have no wins this season combined. The toughest game of the season with be a road test against the New England Patriots and then the team will be home against the Chicago Bears.
The Browns then will play on the road to finish the season, travelling to play the NY Jets and then the Steelers. The Browns have been playing much better since the return of Josh Gordon and he has given Brian Hoyer a nice option in the offense and while the team ranks 27th in rushing yards per game, they have been solid in the passing game with Hoyer, now averaging over 240 yards per game after starting off in the bottom of the league.