The AFC North is home to some of the NFL’s most physical battles, with the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals always managing to remain competitive. There’s been a standard of toughness in the AFC North, and that’s despite the Browns being one of the worst teams in the NFL since they returned to Cleveland in 1999. Even though they’ve been so bad, Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson still believes that the Steelers and Browns have the greatest rivalry in the NFL. However, one former general manager doesn’t believe that’s true at all, much like the rest of the world.
Michael Lombardi was actually the GM of the Browns in 2013, previously spending time in the front offices of the Eagles, Raiders, and 49ers. Lombardi also worked with Browns in various other roles in the late 1980s through the 1990s, so he has experience with the AFC North and the Browns especially. On a recent episode of his show The Lombardi Line, he spoke about Watson’s comments, saying in no uncertain terms that he’s wrong.
“How is that a rivalry? That’s called dominating. That’s not a rivalry, that’s called domination. I don’t know where he’s coming up with this,” Lombardi said. “I don’t think Pittsburgh sees him as a rivalry. When I was in Cleveland, Cincinnati was really good. Ickey Woods, Boomer Esiason, Eddie Brown, they were good. James Brooks. That was a rivalry, it was the battle of Ohio. Cleveland-Pittsburgh, those towns are so close together, you can grow up in Youngstown and be a Steelers’ fan. You ain’t growing up in Pittsburgh and being a Browns fan. A lot of these guys just don’t understand history.”
It seems like Lombardi is of the belief that you need to be competitive against a team in order to create a rivalry. All it takes is one look at Ben Roethlisberger’s record against the Browns to see the truth of the matter. He was 26-2-1 against Cleveland. Like Lombardi says, that isn’t a rivalry, that’s domination. Watson himself hasn’t even beaten the Steelers, and they’ve arguably been as bad as they’ve ever been since before Roethlisberger’s time in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers’ greatest rival is probably the Ravens, as those two teams have gone to war against each other no matter who is playing. The Bengals are also probably more of a rival than the Browns, as there have been some truly memorable matchups between those two teams, such as the 2015 AFC wild-card game where the Bengals imploded. The Browns have only been good enough to compete against the Steelers in the past few years. They did beat the Steelers in the playoffs, but one postseason win does not erase years of futility.
Perhaps the Browns could climb the ranks as a rival to the Steelers, but it won’t happen over the course of one season. It will take multiple seasons of both teams being competitive to do that. That’s why the Ravens are such a good rival to the Steelers, because the two teams have played each other in games that matter. The Browns play the Steelers in games where they could finish the season 6-11 or 5-12 based on the outcome. Rivals compete for playoff spots, not just bragging rights.
