The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped a game they could have won to the Cleveland Browns—there’s no spinning that into positives. They had the lead, after all, and even had possession, with under five minutes to play. It was a collective failure on offense, defense, and special teams that prevented them from winning a sixth consecutive game.
But that was then, and this is now, and the Steelers know the next game against the Browns is around the corner. Up next is the Cincinnati Bengals, but right after that, Cleveland comes to Pittsburgh. Donte Jackson is confident they will be ready for the rematch, and ready to cleanse their palate.
“It sucks. You always want to beat a rival, especially on the road. It just sucks,” Jackson said after 24-19 loss on Thursday night, via the Steelers’ website. “You always want to win games. When it happens like that, it’s just all the more worse. But you’ve just got to pack it up and keep going. We’ll see ‘em in a couple weeks.”
The Steelers’ recent history against the Browns is actually surprisingly bad, considering Cleveland is rarely good. And under this week’s conditions, they are particularly woeful. The Steelers have now lost their last four games in Cleveland on Thursday, a tough place to play. Playing there on a short week only ratchets up the difficulty.
With the loss, the Steelers guarantee that they will once again fail to sweep the Browns. That used to be a common occurrence under QB Ben Roethlisberger, but they haven’t managed it since his final season. Over the past five seasons, the Steelers and Browns are 6-6 against one another, including the postseason.
The Steelers have to make sure they take back the advantage. And they play the Browns again in two weeks, with the Bengals in between. And I should note that there is some history in the Steelers’ favor here. The Browns have not swept them since 1988. But the Steelers have lost consecutive games across multiple seasons two times since 2021, including this current run.
“Win, lose, or draw, you always look forward to the next challenge,” Donte Jackson said of the Steelers’ mentality facing the Browns again in two weeks. “Hats off to those guys. Those guys came out from start to finish and was firing on all cylinders, made plays when it mattered. We’ve just got to be better at the end and close the game out.”
The Steelers failed to close out the game, even after overcoming a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit. The defense even pitched in with multiple takeaways in the final 15 minutes, but it wasn’t enough. This one got away from the Steelers, but they live to fight another day—in two weeks.
