Before the season starts, when fans go through the Cleveland Browns schedule, they could always comfortably mark down their visit to Pittsburgh as a loss. They haven’t defeated the Steelers on their home field in a regular-season game since 2003.
Then, after Cleveland earned a 27-24 home victory against its arch rival in Week 4, the prospects for a win on the road diminished further. The Browns haven’t swept a season series from the Steelers since 1988.
But heading into their Week 8 matchup, the outcome may not be a foregone conclusion. Cleveland is off to one of the best starts in franchise history, and the Browns have shown no signs that it will end anytime soon.
There are two reasons why the Browns can beat the Steelers on Sunday: They have already shown they can do so, and they have been incredibly successful in close games.
Granted, the Browns have won the first meeting before, as recently as 2022 and 2024, but have yet to notch that second win. That was before Todd Monken arrived as head coach, and he has paid no mind to Cleveland’s dubious history, other than doing everything he possibly can to ignore it and change it at the same time.
The Browns built a 21-7 first-half lead on Oct. 1, with quarterback Deshaun Watson posting 181 passing yards. It was still 24-16 late in the fourth quarter before the Steelers rallied to tie, leading to Andre Szmyt’s game-winning 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left.
Cleveland has been tied or behind in the fourth quarter in each of its seven games, yet it has won five of them, with four by three points and the other by four. According to the Steelers website, the Browns are one of 167 teams since 2000 to win five of their first seven games. Of those teams, Cleveland is tied for last in point differential in its wins (+16).
With this game bound to be close again, Cleveland has proven it knows how to handle that, and the Browns are therefore in position to add to their surprising start with a historic streak-busting victory.
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