In toppling the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns have already secured their Super Bowl victory for the 2024 season. Even though they’re sitting at just 3-8 and quite possibly looking at drafting a quarterback early in the first round, they simply cannot help themselves when it comes to getting their win against big brother.
Now, to their credit, no matter how bad they are generally, the Browns have gotten a lot better. The last time the Steelers swept the Browns was in 2017. And a year later they were lucky to earn a tie to go 1-0-1. Prior to that, the Steelers swept the Browns almost all the time.
But the Browns haven’t swept the Steelers since long before they returned to the NFL. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Bill Belichick wasn’t even their head coach yet, and I was a whole one year old. That doesn’t stop them from wanting the smoke, though.
Browns S Grant Delpit seems to like to talk after the Browns win a game—meaning he hasn’t talked much this year—but he has talked since beating the Steelers. He made reference to “dangeruss” in an Instagram post I can only assume is playing on some lyric to a song an old metalhead who now listens to classical music doesn’t understand. As such, I can’t determine whether it’s actually clever or not, so decide for yourself.
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Later, however, he posted an Instagram story, since expired, referencing the Steelers again. After Steelers WR George Pickens said the Browns were not a good team and only won because of the snow, he urged the Steelers to “#comegetyogetback”. It probably doesn’t help that Pickens tried to trip Delpit, prompting him to rip his mouthguard out.
This is not the most heated short turnaround between the Steelers and Browns, however. Back in 2019, the two teams held a rematch against each other with the exact same turnaround. The Steelers lost to the Browns on a Thursday, with Myles Garrett assaulting Mason Rudolph. After playing the Cincinnati Bengals in between, they played the Browns again the next Sunday. The only difference is we’re slightly later in the year now.
The Steelers can’t afford to pay the Browns any mind right now, however. They first have to get back on draft by focusing on a dangerous Cincinnati Bengals team. While they have defensive issues, they have a potent offense and are fighting for their lives. Until they’re eliminated, the Bengals will still compete to make the playoffs. A loss to the Steelers might just be enough.
The Browns will have to wait another week for the Steelers to try to get their get-back back, or something. I don’t even know anymore. What I do know, however, is if the Steelers don’t get back whatever it is they’re supposed to get back, their hopes of claiming their first division title since 2020 will take a massive hit.
