Death, taxes, and the Cleveland Browns being an unserious football team. Those are guarantees in life... or so we thought. The Browns have essentially been bottom-dwellers for the past 30 years (with the exception of a few respectable seasons). But we're now entering Week 7, and the Pittsburgh Steelers might have a problem on their hands with the rival we almost never take seriously.
After six games, the Browns—not the Steelers, Ravens, or Bengals—sit in first place in the AFC North with a 4-2 record. While we should note that two of their wins came against NFC South opponents, Cleveland becomes more threatening when you consider that they are now 2-0 against their division.
In Week 4 on Thursday Night Football, the Browns took down the Steelers in a 27-24 upset. Then on Sunday, Todd Monken's team squeaked out a win against the Ravens thanks to a last-second field goal from kicker Andre Szmyt.
The Browns have hardly looked like a Super Bowl contender in the first month-and-a-half of the season, but there's reason for Steelers fans to be concerned.
The Pittsburgh Steelers need the Cleveland Browns to start losing football games
Let me be clear: I'm not ready to believe that the Browns are legitimate threats in the AFC—I can't come to that conclusion after watching all of their games so far this season. However, the Steelers are going to have to gain some ground on this division rival at some point.
And considering Cleveland faces a fourth-place schedule compared to the Steelers' first-place schedule, this won't come easy.
As the Steelers get set to travel to Paris to face the New Orleans Saints in Week 7, the Browns are game-planning for their matchup against the 1-5 Tennessee Titans. From there, the Steelers will travel back across the pond to face the Browns for a second time—and they can't afford to get swept.
By the Steelers Week 9 bye, we might be looking at a Browns team that not only holds a better overall record, but one that could be sitting at 3-0 in the AFC North with a clean sweep of the Steelers.
After the bye, Mike McCarthy's team will face opponents like the Bengals, Broncos, Texans, Jaguars, and Ravens (twice), while the Browns will have some favorable contests against the Giants, Falcons, and Colts, as well as a pair of games against the Bengals.
I don't expect the Browns to keep up the momentum throughout the season. But if they don't slow down soon, we could be looking at a scenario where Steelers fans may actually need to root for the Bengals and Ravens late in the season if they don't start losing games soon.
If the Browns sweep the Steelers, they will own a head-to-head tiebreaker over Pittsburgh at the end of the season (should it come down to this). However, if these opponents split, Cleveland could still end up owning a tiebreaker if they have a better record against the AFC North.
This is obviously a scenario the Steelers don't want to find themselves in. And if the Steelers do well enough this season, the Browns beating up on the Ravens and Bengals could work in their favor.
At the end of the day, it's hard to acknowledge that the Cleveland Browns sit atop the AFC North standings a third of the way through the season, and the Steelers could be in trouble if their lowly division rival keeps it up.
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