The rivalry between the Steelers and Browns had appeared to see a rise in competitiveness, but today things are still looking rough for Cleveland.
I am a firm believer in the concept of fate within sports, as it seems that some franchises are destined to succeed while some others are not. When it comes to the Cleveland Browns, they fall into the latter—and the Pittsburgh Steelers have played a big role as to why.
In the 21st century, the Browns have only managed to beat their rivals from up north on eight occasions out of 46 tries. That may not sound too spectacular on a timeline, but considering that three of those wins have been obtained within the last seven meetings, the future had been looking quite bright. That is until fate kicked in once again.
The Steelers, despite their plethora of issues on both sides of the ball, have won the latest pair of encounters; those victories helped them make the playoffs last year. This means they have now made the postseason since the last time Cleveland did so.
Simply put, the Browns had an edge over Pittsburgh for a solid 20 minutes or so, but they have seemingly returned to the back seat already—and that could’ve been said before all of this quarterback nonsense unfolded.
Steelers still do better business than the Browns
One of the biggest topics in NFL media as of late has been the Deshaun Watson situation, headlined by his frightening amount of sexual misconduct cases. Something else that made a sizable amount of news, though, was Cleveland blindly devoting itself to him in spite of the accusations.
The Browns spoon-fed Watson a $230 million contract with every last cent guaranteed, but now he is almost certain to miss multiple games of this season due to the fact that his legal troubles were still actively worsening at the time.
It’s not the end of the world, though, because they still got Baker Mayfield, right? Ya know, that Heisman-winning QB that’s been their starter for years now? Surely they didn’t botch that dilemma as well?
Of course they did. This is the Browns we’re talking about.
In short, they made it known that they were looking to replace him, refused to give him up out of concerns that they weren’t in the running for Watson, ridiculously landed Watson anyway, found out that Watson was in jeopardy of missing some serious game time this year, and then sent Mayfield to the Panthers for a pocket change draft pick instead of shedding some pride by crawling back to him.
Now if that does not scream “Cleveland,” I don’t know what does.
Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has managed to lay the groundwork for a promising offensive unit with the star-studded duo that is Kenny Pickett and George Pickens.
Combining those two with some more playmaking receivers, Najee Harris, and a remotely-decent offensive line, the Steelers could be a menace to all who oppose them very soon. And let’s not forget that defensive superpowers like Minkah Fitzpatrick, Cameron Heyward, and T.J. Watt also exist.
There’s no other way to say it: the Browns are used to being underneath Pittsburgh’s boot in both the past and present. If Cleveland can’t survive these quarterback uncertainties (especially when considering what all else could come out about Watson), the same just might be said about the future as well.