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About an hour ago
The Steelers and Cleveland Browns have a windshield-like rivalry against the bug.
The real rivalry moved with the real Browns to Baltimore in 1996. Oh, how we laughed.
The real Browns won two Super Bowls in Baltimore. Would they have won those if the real Browns had stayed in Cleveland?
No. The key phrase: “in Cleveland”. LeBron James does not play football.
The Browns have been in a playoff game since resuming NFL football in Cleveland in 1999. It was against the Steelers on Jan. 5, 2003. The Browns lost a 17-point lead on their way to a 36-33 loss. . . Oh, how we laughed.
It wasn’t exactly a vintage Steelers team. Tommy Maddox was quarterback, Amos Zereoue was running back. Do you remember Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala? Me neither. But he scored the winning touchdown with 54 seconds left. Mike Logan (the one from McKeesport!) Got an interception.
The Steelers had key components in place: Alan Faneca. James Farrior. Casey Hampton. Joey Porter. Aaron Smith. Hines Ward. Jerome Bettis was in the Extended Twilight first season of his career. He shared the time with Zereoue, getting a few fewer races. The Steelers won a Super Bowl three seasons later.
From 1999 to 2003, the Steelers went 8-3 against Cleveland. Their first game in the NFL was a 43-0 home loss to Pittsburgh. The Dawg Pound has been sterilized and sterilized. Oh, how we laughed.
In 2004, Ben Roethlisberger showed up at the playground. For the Browns, things were going from bad to worse.
Roethlisberger is 24-2-1 against the Browns. That doesn’t include a 2015 win where Roethlisberger, recovering from an injury, came off the bench when starter Landry Jones picked up an injury and threw three touchdowns in a generally unbalanced 30-9 win. Oh, how we laughed.
Roethlisberger’s 11 wins at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland were the most scored by any QB until Baker Mayfield dominated this year. It took Mayfield more than two seasons to catch up and pass Roethlisberger. This is Mayfield’s stadium. Not at Roethlisberger. Well, maybe it is metaphorically.
Roethlisberger cannot gain ground Sunday at Mayfield when the Steelers travel to Cleveland. The Steelers have no advantage beyond seeding, so several key Steelers will be inactive for the playoffs: Roethlisberger, Cam Heyward, Maurkice Pouncey, TJ Watt, maybe more.
But the Steelers could win anyway. When Bill Belichick coached the Real Browns from 1991 to 1994, he was 3-8 against Pittsburgh. (He has since taken his revenge by coaching New England.)
All in all, the Steelers are 36-7-1 against Cleveland since the Browns reappeared. Duck Hodges even beat them last year. Oh, how we laughed.
Sunday’s game, however, is a no-game. The Steelers don’t need to win. The Browns do. Roethlisberger does not play. Mayfield is.
Will Mason Rudolph and Myles Garrett play well? This is the only compelling storyline in the game besides Covid.
The Browns removed five players from the covid roster on Thursday, including four wide receivers. But they put two players on the covid list, including cornerback Denzel Ward. Ward does not stink, a useful and scarce commodity in Cleveland. Not just the team. The city too.
Covid has closed the Browns’ training center. Panic broadcast: will the match be postponed to Monday? If that happens, should the Steelers give up by avoiding a short week before a playoff game? Are NFL teams using Covid to stage a Steelers plot? Tennessee, Baltimore, now this.
But the game will not be postponed. If it did, you can’t choose to give up. The only plot against the Steelers has been inside work: Until the second half against Indianapolis last Sunday, their offense had been worthless for over a month and can’t run at all. The Steelers are averaging 1.4 yards per carry against the Colts. The dead fall further.
The Browns will likely beat the Steelers with flying colors. Their fans will sing loudly because they’re too dumb to know it’s an improvement game.
There will be no rematch in the playoffs. It would be a blessing for the Steelers.
I bet the Steelers are playing Baltimore. It won’t be a blessing.
The Browns have a huge advantage: Mayfield’s big-ticket corporate brand over JuJu Smith-Schuster’s nickel-dime DIY brand. Primanti Bros. is not the enemy.
Categories:
Mark Madden Columns | Sports | Steelers / NFL
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