The Cleveland Browns have their biggest game in years on Sunday as they head to Pittsburgh in pursuit of their first regular season road win over the Steelers since 2003. This 22-game losing streak in Pittsburgh has hung over this franchise for over two decades now and despite the Browns having a few good years during that time span, they haven’t been able to get out from under this shadow.
The narrative around them is that they are the little brother and that they are the whipping boys of the AFC North, but at 5-2, this Browns team is doing what it can to rewrite that narrative. There are a whole lot of new faces running the show in 2026 who had nothing to do with those 22 losses and will be looking to rewrite this narrative on Sunday.
One of the players with the biggest chance to rewrite that narrative is quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has rewritten his own narrative over these first seven weeks and helped beat the Steelers just a few games ago. In a recent article for Cleveland.com, Dan Labbe wrote about how important this week is for Watson and what it means for this team.
“This is a pretty big week for Deshaun Watson. You go into Pittsburgh and win this football game. Just like with the team itself, it really can be a narrative shifting game for a lot of people. Including Deshaun,” Dan Labbe said.
The 5-2 start has been incredible and unexpected, and if the Browns lose this game, they’ll still have a great chance to keep fighting and potentially make the playoffs. However, in so many ways, they’ll still be the little brother until they can get over this hurdle that trips them up year after year.
This organization can’t get to the next level unless it can figure out how to win in Pittsburgh. This team knows that it can be done since they just beat the Steelers a few weeks ago, and perhaps having a first-time head coach and a roster full of youngsters is the perfect recipe to get it done. This group doesn’t carry the burden of not being able to win in Pittsburgh because most of them weren’t here for it. Some of them weren’t even born the last time the Browns won in Pittsburgh.
One of the best things in sports is watching a narrative get rewritten. This game gets bigger and bigger every year and this has to end eventually. Perhaps this version of the Browns is just crazy and delusional enough to put this whole thing to bed.
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