Steelers have all the rage fuel they need to trounce the Browns on Monday Night Football

Steelers will be ready to silence the haters tonight.
Pittsburgh Steelers, Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers, Steelers / Joe Sargent/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit

Pittsburgh's season-opener against the San Francisco 49ers proved to be a colossal disaster. After gaining recognition from the national NFL media following an impressive 2023 preseason, the Steelers showed just how irrelevant exhibition action is, as it hardly carried over into the regular season.

In addition to getting the pants beat off them in Week 1, Pittsburgh sustained a pair of notable injuries. Diontae Johnson could miss several weeks after pulling his hamstring, while Cameron Heyward could miss up to eight weeks with a groin tear that required surgery.

These are no doubt some significant blows to the Steelers roster. But despite suffering a 30-7 blowout in Week 1 and losing two of their best players ahead of tonight's Monday Night Football matchup against Cleveland, Pittsburgh should have all of the aggression and determination they need to come away with a victory against the Browns in primetime action in Week 2.

Why Steelers will be so fired up for tonight's game

Following their embarrassing loss against the 49ers, the Steelers not only plummeted in NFL power rankings ahead of Week 2, but they also plunged in terms of odds to win the AFC North. While they were already fourth in this department ahead of the opener, DraftKings Sportsbook now has Pittsburgh at just +750 odds to win their division.

Odds suggest that the Ravens (+145) and Browns (+200) each have significantly better chances of coming away with the division crown. Even the Bengals -- who have had an incredibly sluggish start to the year and boast an 0-2 record -- have +350 odds of winning the AFC North.

But this is hardly all of the incentive they need to come out of the gate firing tonight. After the Week 1 blowout loss, 49ers left tackle Trent Williams took a subtle jab at the Steelers when he said that he almost wanted them to get a first down on offense so that he could have a break. You better believe that Kenny Pickett and his crew know about these comments heading into their second game.

feed

On top of all of this, the Steelers are home underdogs for the second straight week -- this time against a Cleveland Browns team in a primetime game in Pittsburgh. Mike Tomlin has a perfect 16-0 record at home in his career against the Browns, per Statmuse. Combine this with the fact that the Steelers have a record of 20-4 on Monday Night Football during Tomlin's tenure, and we have enough evidence to believe that Pittsburgh should be favorites in this contest.

The Pittsburgh Steelers aren't about to come out and get humiliated for the second straight week. They know what everyone has been saying about them, and they have all the rage fuel they need to trounce the Browns on Monday Night Football tonight.

4 bold predictions for the Steelers vs. Browns in Week 2. 4 bold predictions for the Steelers vs. Browns in Week 2. dark. Next