Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Preview and Prediction

In a short week the Browns prepare for a Thursday night showdown with their biggest rival Pittsburgh with a chance to play spoiler to the AFC North leader

Nov 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson (3) leads the team onto the field to play the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Even with the Cleveland Browns sitting at 2-8 on the season with virtually zero hope to make the playoffs, a matchup with their biggest rival in the Pittsburgh Steelers still arrives with plenty of juice.

It helps when you have two of the best players in the game squaring off in this one with Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt. That duo of elite pass rushers have sort of formed a friendly rivalry between each other. It continued this week when Garrett responded to Watt's complaints over losing the Defensive Player of the Year Award to the Browns star last year. On Thursday night they'll get their first chance this season to let their play do the talking at the expense of the other.

Watt anchors a Steelers defense that for all intents and purposes is the nervous system of Pittsburgh's team. Their dominance is well documented, particularly in the form of a +11 turnover margin, which is the second best mark in the NFL. That group is opportunistic and their ability to take the ball away puts an average offense in advantageous situations more often than not.

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— 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 (@Spencito_) November 20, 2024

This Pittsburgh team is a blast from the past, channeling the glory says of Steelers football that used dominant defense and a strong run game as a formula for winning. Najee Harris is having a renaissance season of sorts, with 708 yards, a 4.0 ypc average and three touchdowns so far this season, to lead the NFL's eighth ranked rushing offense in terms of yards per game.

Then there's Russell Wilson. The 35-year-old – in the words of Toby Keith – may not be as good as he once was, but he's as good once as he ever was. He's put together a respectable season and is still making some big time throws when he needs to. Maybe most importantly though he's protecting the football with only two picks in four games and the Steelers are undefeated since he took over under center.

Consciously, it's hard to picture the Browns taking down the current king of the hill in the AFC North. Then again, Cleveland is only a few weeks removed from pulling off a stunning upset over the Baltimore Ravens so crazier things have happened.

Is there any faith left in the Browns in a short week?

Anthony Moeglin: Browns 17, Steelers 12

There is something special about Thursday Night Football in Cleveland, Ohio at Huntington Bank Field. The Browns are always a tough opponent in primetime and I think that Cleveland will prove to be a pest on Thursday Night.

The Steelers are 8-2 on the year largely thanks to the play of their defense. With some weather in the forecast I think that this game is a hard fought AFC North battle that Cleveland gets a gift touchdown early and Nick Chubb ices the game late and Cleveland gets their third win of the year.

Cole McDaniel: Steelers 26, Browns 13

The Cleveland Browns had a chance to go down to New Orleans, play with some pride and win another game. A third win could have realistically set this team up for a five or six win season. Instead, the team looked like they gave up and fell to 2-8.

With back-to-back primetime games and two of the next three against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the likelihood of splitting the series should be pretty high. It is hard to believe in a Browns team that appears to have given up.

For that reason, the Browns struggle to score versus a strong Steelers defense and Pittsburgh's offense gashes Cleveland on a few big plays.

Dylan Feltovich: Steelers 21, Browns 17

The Cleveland Browns are coming off one of the worst defensive performances in Week 11 against the New Orleans Saints. However, Thursday night's contest presents a somewhat favorable matchup for the defense, as the Pittsburgh Steelers' only points in Week 11 came from field goals.

While the defense is on the brink of a bounce-back game, the major threat standing in the way of the Browns is the Steelers' incredible defense. Pittsburgh averages 90.8 rushing yards allowed per game this season, which ranks fourth in the NFL. With the offense having to rely on quarterback Jameis Winston in the cold Northeast Ohio weather, the Browns may not have the juice to take down the team's rival.

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— 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 (@Spencito_) November 19, 2024

Spencer German: Steelers 27, Browns 17

Stunningly, the Steelers are 0-5 under Mike Tomlin in road divisional Thursday night games and 2-8 in Thursday night games overall during Tomlin's tenure. Perhaps that means there's some weird voodoo magic in play here – I swear I'm not still lost in New Orleans – and it'll come into play at Huntington Bank Field to propel the Browns to a stunning win. I can't make my pick off of hypothetical sorcery.

I think there were some positive signs from the offense even in a blowout loss to the Saints. Jameis Winston was stellar. He moved the ball up and down the field fairly well. As he mentioned afterward, they just weren't finishing the drives with points and more importantly with touchdowns. If Cleveland is going to pull this one off that will have to change. So too will the missed tackles and big plays allowed on defense. In a short week, I just don't know if they can overcome many of the same problems that have plagued them since Week 1.

Maybe the forecasted sloppy wither levels the playing field a little bit and Nick Chubb has a big revenge game against the team that ended his season a year ago. That's a lot of hoping and wishing to take down a red hot Steelers team right now though.