The Cleveland Browns travel to Pittsburgh this Sunday aiming to achieve a feat they have not accomplished in 38 years: a season sweep of the Steelers. Cleveland won the first meeting in Week 4, and a victory at Acrisure Stadium would give the Browns their first sweep of Pittsburgh since November 20, 1988.
Decades of Steelers dominance
Since that 1988 sweep, the Steelers have dominated the rivalry, winning 52 of 69 regular-season matchups. The Browns have not won in Pittsburgh since 2003, when Tim Couch was quarterback, enduring a 22-game losing streak at Acrisure/Heinz Field with only six games decided by seven points or fewer.
Browns chasing rare 6-2 start
A win would also lift Cleveland to 6-2, a record the franchise has reached only once since the Super Bowl era began in 1966 — in 1994 under Bill Belichick. The Browns own the NFL's longest active drought without a 6-2 start (28 seasons) and the second-longest in history.
Rookie receivers fuel offense
First-year wideouts Denzel Boston (372 receiving yards) and KC Concepcion Jr. (317 yards) have become just the second rookie duo in NFL history to each top 300 yards through seven games. In the Week 4 win, they combined for nine catches and 154 yards, with Concepcion's six-yard grab setting up the game-winning field goal.
Watson's clutch drives and Monken's culture shift
Quarterback Deshaun Watson has engineered a game-winning drive in all five Browns victories, joining Troy Aikman (1990) and Matthew Stafford (2016) as the only quarterbacks since 1970 to do so in their team's first five wins. Head coach Todd Monken, hired this year, has emphasized a new mindset, telling his players after a September win: "Browns are gonna Browns f--- that. ... The guys took that to heart."
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+. A victory would not only end historic futility but could also position Cleveland as a legitimate AFC North contender for the first time since their last division title in 1989.
