The Pittsburgh Steelers are riding high. They’re coming off an emotional division win and have cemented themselves as one of the top contenders in the AFC with an 8-2 record. After their win on Sunday, they’ve got a short week on their hands. The Steelers hit the road to take on the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.
Every week, the NFL’s YouTube channel posts a preview video for each game on the league’s weekly slate. At the end of each video, 10 NFL.com analysts predict the winner of the game, and the final score. For the Steelers’ matchup against the Browns, it was a clean sweep with all 10 analysts foreseeing a Steelers win.
There are a lot of reasons to agree with them. At the moment, these two franchises seem to be going in opposite directions. The Steelers sit first place in the division and control their own destiny in the conference. They’ve done it with two quarterbacks who were acquired this offseason after being essentially cast off by their former teams. Meanwhile, Cleveland is 2-8. With Deshaun Watson on the roster, the Browns are dealing with one of the worst contracts in NFL history.
However, as we all know, AFC North matchups can always be tricky, even when one team is having a much better year than the other. There are a lot of signs that point to a potential trap game here. Pittsburgh’s got a short week, and it’s coming off a very hard-fought, emotional win. The weather looks bleak in Cleveland on Thursday, which could signal an ugly game. Pittsburgh loves ugly games, but the Browns have shown more life with Jameis Winston at quarterback and could give the Steelers a good battle.
Ultimately, this is a game the Steelers should win. The Browns have looked slightly better with Winston at QB after Watson’s season-ending injury, but they’re still a bad team. Giving up 21 fourth-quarter points to a 4-7 New Orleans Saints team Sunday shows that the team has a long way to go. Still, this is an intense rivalry. No matter how different each team’s season has gone, Thursday’s game should be a dogfight.
