The Cleveland Browns had made great strides this season, surprising many people around the NFL with their status as a first-place team in the AFC North. They had been there this late in the season just once in more than three decades.
With that improvement comes added attention, and teams were unlikely to keep taking the Browns as lightly as they had been able to do for years. Add to that an arch rival bent on revenge over a previous loss, some bulletin-board material provided by Jared Verse, playing at a place where they never win, and a young Cleveland team found themselves in way over their heads.
The Pittsburgh Steelers showed they meant business on their home field on Sunday, and analyst Ken Carman said what every Browns fan had in mind after the 27-6 loss.
“That sucked yesterday. There ain’t no doubt about it. To me, I think next Sunday is already bigger than this, because if you go down there, and you lose, you got yourself a hell of a problem. This sucked yesterday. There’s no way around it. Offense was listless. Defense got gashed. You have a problem stopping the run. Todd Monken is right. They didn’t coach it well enough. Offensive line was a mess. It was just bad all the way around. It’s just a real, real, real bad day,” Carman said.
“Offense was listless. Defense got gashed. You have a problem stopping the run.”
➡️ @KenCarman & @SportsBoyTony react to the #Browns' 27-6 loss to Pittsburgh and Cleveland's struggles on both sides of the ball. pic.twitter.com/NRO8z2cbEL
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) November 2, 2026
Cleveland lost a fumble on each of its first two possessions, and things just kept getting worse from there. The Browns trailed 20-6 at halftime, and try as they might, they could not score a touchdown, finally getting to the 1-yard line before a penalty caused a 10-second runoff that ended the game, which could not have been more fitting.
They continued to struggle with flags, taking nine penalties for 85 yards. The offensive line committed four holding penalties and gave up eight sacks, and the defense allowed 200 yards on the ground. It was a long way from Cleveland’s 27-24 win against Pittsburgh one month ago.
Despite predicting a dominant performance, which definitely fired up the Steelers, Verse wound up with just one tackle. It all led to the Browns making some ugly history, with a 23rd straight regular-season loss at Pittsburgh tying an NFL record.
Now, Cleveland must recover quickly before the season starts to spiral out of control. The task will not be easy, as the Browns will play their third straight road game when they visit the New Orleans Saints, who will be coming off their bye.
Another dismal outing could prove to the remaining skeptics that they were right about the Browns all along.
NEXT: Stats Show How Browns Struggled In The Trenches Against Steelers
