This Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers matchup wasn’t supposed to have this much juice a few weeks ago. However, with both teams now at a surprising 2-1 and the Browns looking to run this home winning streak over the Steelers to five games behind an offense finally showing some signs of life, Thursday night’s battle should be a doozie.
All four AFC North teams are 2-1 through three games, which is a significant improvement from last season when the Steelers won the division at 10-7 and the other three teams finished under .500. That likely won’t happen again given how September went, and Thursday’s matchup could go a long way toward shaping the divisional hierarchy over the rest of this season.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith agrees and is quite excited about this game. On Thursday’s episode of First Take, he raved about Watson’s performance in the second half of each game so far and sang his praises for turning things around.
“The story right now is Deshaun Watson. That is where the intrigue lies. We need to understand the magnitude of the Deshaun Watson saga. Never in our lifetime have we seen someone so gifted as a talent literally fall off to the point where we wonder whether or not they can even play, and it had nothing to do with Father Time. This might be the best story in the NFL if this continues to elevate because this has come out of nowhere,” said Smith.
"To me, the story right now is Deshaun Watson."
—@stephenasmith on why he's more intrigued by Watson ahead of the Steelers vs. Browns matchup 👀 pic.twitter.com/qPqj1VpFPb
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 1, 2026
It’s incredible how quickly narratives can shift in this league. The Browns were the laughing stock of the league after naming Watson the starting quarterback, and after getting blown out by the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1, the writing was on the wall for him to get benched ahead of the Week 3 home opener.
After two impressive performances heading into Thursday night, suddenly this organization has momentum for the first time in years. If Watson can run this streak to three in a row and have another standout performance against this team’s biggest rival in primetime, the conversation around this team and Watson in general will become a lot different.
He may have some individual accolades in his future if he can keep this up, but most importantly, the playoffs are a legitimate goal if the team can start 3-1. Some fans may never come around on Watson due to all the controversies he has stirred up, but with enough support behind him, he has a chance to rewrite his next chapter in a positive light and keep his career going.
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