We always know the Steelers will play the Browns twice every year. We didn’t know until yesterday’s schedule release that they would play them at the worst time. For their first meeting of the season, the Steelers will travel to Cleveland in Week 4—on Thursday Night Football.
If you’ve been a dedicated Steelers fan for a while, you probably already know their awful track record against the Browns on Thursday night in Cleveland. Going back to 2009, this will be the first Steelers-Browns game in Cleveland on Thursday night. Each of the previous four games ended in a spectacular failure for the visiting team.
while the Steelers are 2-0 against the Browns in Pittsburgh, the home team is 6-0 in those matchups. Given their inability to sweep in recent years, this season may not be any different. And while the first Cleveland matchup may be the most famous, most of it is recent history.
The game the Steelers lost to the Browns in Cleveland on Thursday night in 2009 came at a momentous time during that season. Pittsburgh was already seeing its season spiral out of control, driven largely by defensive injuries. This was the time a young Mike Tomlin promised his team would “unleash Hell in December”. And then promptly laid the biggest egg imaginable during a horribly cold and bitter night against a one-win rival.
The Steelers didn’t play the Browns on Thursday night in Cleveland again for a decade. But when they finally did again, it ended up far more notable than planned. Already closing out another awful loss that pushed them to 5-5 on the season, well, here’s the play-by-play:
Mason Rudolph pass complete short left to Trey Edmunds for 11 yards (tackle by Juston Burris). Penalty on Maurkice Pouncey: Disqualification (Offsetting). Penalty on Leterrius Walton: Disqualification (Offsetting). Penalty on Larry Ogunjobi: Disqualification (Offsetting)
Remember that? Somehow, Myles Garrett’s name isn’t even included, but if you know, you know. It was that game, and the Steelers were already losing 21-7, facing 3rd and 29 with 14 seconds to play when that happened. Getting hard not to hate Thursday nights in Cleveland.
Of course, things haven’t gotten much better. The Browns also beat the Steelers on two more Thursday nights in Cleveland since then, in 2022 and 2024. The former effectively ended the Mitch Trubisky era, the Steelers benching him during the next game. Pittsburgh did lead for about a quarter, but it didn’t hold. The game ended with the Browns scoring a touchdown off a fumble on the final play, a desperation lateralpalooza.
The last game the Steelers lost to the Browns in Cleveland on Thursday was perhaps the most painful. In this one in 2024, they held the lead with a minute to go. Jameis Winston, however, led Cleveland to the comeback. Fueled by a Corliss Waitman punt that may have cost his NFL career. The Browns began their game-winning drive in the Steelers’ 45-yard line, and it still took them 10 plays to score.
That’s just how Thursday nights in Cleveland have gone for the Steelers when they play the Browns. But with both teams having new coaching staffs, perhaps this year will finally be different.
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