Almost every game in the AFC North is a war of attrition between two physical, closely matched teams, and it’s spawned a number of divisional rivalries. While the Steelers-Ravens matchups have been legendary in the past, third-year wideout Calvin Austin III said that the Browns are the team he gets most excited to play. Appearing on The Jason & John Show on 92.9 FM ESPN in Memphis, Austin said the Browns are the AFC North team he gets amped up to play and said they have an attitude.
“Cleveland,” Austin said. “For one, going to Cleveland, their fans are ruthless. That was the first environment I was like, yo, this is an away game. I feel like Baltimore has always been the rival, but it’s also a respect thing there. Now the Browns are on the climb a little bit, so it’s more of they coming in, it’s like that attitude,” Austin said.
He said the Browns are “gonna try you” and that makes it all the more important to win.
“They gonna try you. So you gotta get right with them. So I would say the Browns, that’s the one I’m like yeah, we gotta beat them.”
Cleveland got the better of Pittsburgh in the 2020 AFC Wild Card Round, but for the most part, Pittsburgh has had a leg up on Cleveland. However, the gap is closing between the two franchises. Since Austin was drafted, Pittsburgh is 2-2 against the Browns, splitting games in both 2022 and 2023. Cleveland made the playoffs last season but lost in the Wild Card Round to the Houston Texans.
With Deshaun Watson healthy after a season-ending injury last season and Nick Chubb on the road to recovery from a torn ACL, the Browns are again contenders to make the playoffs and will be a tough out in the division. No divisional games are easy in the AFC North, and the Steelers are going to likely need to go .500 in the division to have a shot at making the playoffs this season.
The Steelers did go 5-1 against the AFC North last season, but their lone loss was to Cleveland. As Austin said, while the rivalry between the Steelers and Ravens has a lot of respect, there’s less when it comes to Steelers-Browns, and it’s just two teams that don’t particularly like each other. That makes it a game that players need to get ready for and why it’s so important to win. It’s not fun losing, and it’s especially not fun losing in the division to a team that you aren’t fond of.
Austin will look to make a bigger impact for the Steelers in Year 2 as he looks to be the team’s potential No. 2 receiver. Hopefully, he’ll be able to help contribute to Pittsburgh winning some divisional games and beating Cleveland this season.
