Cheat Sheet: Steelers vs. Browns

SERIES HISTORY

The Steelers and Browns have met 145 times dating back to 1950. Of those 145 matchups, only three have been in the postseason. Pittsburgh is 2-1 in the playoffs against the Browns. Overall, this series sits at 81-64-1 in Pittsburgh's favor. Cleveland started off with an eight-game winning streak, won 12 of the first 13 contests, and only had two losses out of the first 18 times these teams squared off. Starting in 1962, the tides greatly turned to the Steelers' favor. The Browns won just four games between that point and 1983. Even more extreme, since 1994, Pittsburgh has won 43 of 53 games with a tie thrown in during that time. The Browns are on a two-game winning streak, however. Mike Tomlin's career record vs. Cleveland is 26-8-1. Since 2007, the Steelers have outscored Cleveland by 269 points in these head-to-head matchups.

MATCHUP OVERVIEW

• The Steelers are 9-3 after their win in Cincinnati. That also pushes Pittsburgh to 2-1 in divisional games. The Steelers are 4-1 at home. The Browns will be operating on a short week after their loss in Denver, pushing their record to 3-9. Cleveland is 1-5 away from home but 2-1 in AFC North games. Pittsburgh has won five of the six games Russell Wilson has started, with the only exception in their game in Cleveland. The Steelers have won six of their last seven overall. Wilson's current .833 winning percentage is only behind Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff. The Steelers will remain in first place in the AFC North Week 15 no matter the outcome of this game vs. Cleveland.
• The Steelers have won 20-straight regular season home games against the Browns.
• The Steelers have a 7-2 record within the AFC North since 2023 with their only two losses coming in Cleveland. The Steelers have not been swept by Browns since 1988. The streak of 32-straight seasons without being swept by a divisional opponent is the longest in history.
• Pittsburgh is 4-0 against teams that currently have a winning record. They were 5-0, but Atlanta is now 6-6.
• Pittsburgh has outscored its opponents by 72 points this year, seventh best. The Browns have been outscored by 90 points, 26^th.
• Since hiring Tomlin in 2007, the Steelers have the NFL's best record in divisional games from Weeks 12 through the end of the regular season (39-13) with a 75% winning percentage.
• Last week's win ensures that Pittsburgh its 21^st straight non-losing season, tying the record set by the Cowboys from 1965-1985.
• The Steelers turned Cleveland over three times in their first meeting.
• Pittsburgh's plus-15 turnover ratio is only behind the Bills. Their 25 takeaways are best in the league, as are their 12 fumble recoveries. Only the Ravens and Chargers have thrown fewer interceptions. The Browns have a minus-8 turnover differential. They have just 10 takeaways with only four interceptions (two of which came last week). Only three teams have thrown more than the 12 Browns' interceptions.
• Pittsburgh ran 12 more plays than the Browns and possessed the ball for 35:02 in Cleveland. The Steelers lead the NFL in time of possession (32:42) and over their last three games that spikes to 34:11. Cleveland ran 84 plays last week and possessed the ball for 32:10, but still is at 30:42 for the season.
• Cleveland has 87 accepted committed penalties (8^th most). The Steelers have 79 (12^th most).
• Pittsburgh has generated 16 more first downs via penalty than it has given up.
• Only the Raiders throw the ball at a higher percentage than Cleveland (65.5%) this year. Only the Eagles throw the ball at a lower clip than Pittsburgh (48.8%).
• These teams each averaged 5.5 yards per play in their Week 12 matchup. In that matchup, the Browns defense has 11 tackles for loss compared to just one by Pittsburgh.
• The Steelers have 511 more rushing yards than they have allowed and 34.7 more yards from scrimmage. They have also run 90 more plays than their opponents.
• The Browns have allowed 18 more sacks than they have produced, 496 more rushing yards and 11 more rushing touchdowns.
• Since Wilson took over as the Steelers' starting quarterback, Pittsburgh games have averaged 51.7 combined points, third-most over that time. Since Winston took over as the Browns' starting quarterback, Cleveland games have averaged 51 combined points, fourth-most over that time.
• TJ Watt (.91) and Myles Garrett (.88) rank first and second, respectively, in career sacks per game all time.

WHEN PITTSBURGH HAS THE BALL

• The Browns allowed 6.6 yards per play last week, while Pittsburgh's offense averaged 7.9 yards per play in Week 13. Cleveland gives up 5.8 for the season. Only Jacksonville and New Orleans are worse.
• In Weeks 1 to 6 with Justin Fields as the starting quarterback, Pittsburgh's offense averaged 4.8 yards per play. Since then, with Wilson at quarterback, the Steelers are at 5.7. They are creating explosive plays at a 12.2% clip with Wilson compared to 9.0% before he was inserted as the starter.
• Pittsburgh operates out of 11 Personnel just 46.7% of its snaps. Only five offenses utilize 11 Personnel at a lower percentage. The Steelers use the highest percentage of 13 Personnel (17.2%) and the 11^th highest percentage of 12 Personnel (25.1%). The Browns face 11 Personnel on just 46.4% of their snaps, the lowest rate in the league. But they see 12 Personnel at a 29.6% clip, the highest in the NFL. They also face 13 Personnel 6.2% of the time, fourth-highest.
• The Browns allow a set of downs to turn into a new set of downs or touchdown at a 68% rate. Only the Eagles, Vikings and Texans are better.
• Wilson's 8.7 yards per attempt is only behind Jared Goff.
• Last week, Wilson had a 5.1 average depth of target - his lowest since joining the Steelers - and got the ball out in 2.68 seconds, his quickest with Pittsburgh. 34% of his attempts were to running backs against Cincinnati. Still, he was eight of eight on throws 10-plus yards downfield for 204 yards.
• The Steelers have put points on the board in 29 of their last 30 quarters of football.
• Pittsburgh generated 520 yards of offense last week. That is the Steelers' highest yardage total since 2018.
• Cleveland gives up 6.8 yards per pass attempt. That is only better than the Jaguars. Their average completion allowed goes for 12.9 yards, highest in the NFL. However, only three defenses have a better completion percentage allowed.
• Since Wilson took over as starting quarterback, the Steelers produce 5.7 plays per game of 20-plus yards, the most in the league during that time. 14.5% of Pittsburgh's pass plays have gained 20-plus yards during that time, the highest percentage in the league. The Browns allow 4.9 such plays per game, 31^st in the league.
• Wilson threw for 270 yards in the first meeting. Last week, Wilson threw for 414, the second-highest total of his career. Wilson has eclipsed 9.0 yards per attempt in four of his six starts, averaging 10.9 per attempt last week.
• Pickens had a 16.7% target share against the Bengals, his lowest with Wilson as the starting quarterback. Pickens does lead the NFL in catches of 30-plus yards (12). Pickens also has reached 74-plus yards in five of his six games with Wilson as the starter. Calvin Ridley is the only wide receiver with a higher air yards share than Pickens (45%) and Pickens is tied for ninth in team target share (27%). Last week, Pickens was on the field for 92.7% of Wilson's drop backs. The next closest receiver was Pat Freiermuth at 65.9%.
• Calvin Austin has two touchdowns but just five targets in the past two games.
• The Browns allow a league-high 16.4 yards per catch to the wide receiver position.
• Targets with Wilson at quarterback: Pat Freiermuth 21, Darnell Washington 16. Freiermuth was targeted seven times in Week 13, catching six of those for 68 yards and a touchdown. Those are season highs for receptions and yards. He has hit a new season-high in receiving yardage in back-to-back weeks. Freiermuth has a 10.6% target share with Wilson as quarterback, but 16.4% over the past two games. He has 10 catches over the past two games after collecting just nine over Wilson's first four starts. But Freiermuth has yet to get an end zone target from Wilson.
• Of the Steelers' 413 passing yards, 263 came after the catch in Cincinnati, averaging 9.1 yards after the catch per reception.
• Ten different Steelers caught a pass in Cincinnati. Steelers running backs accounted for 13 receptions for 146 yards.
• The Browns allowed two 100-yard receivers last week in Denver.
• The Steelers are using play-action on 29.2% of their drop backs, fourth-highest.
• Wilson was sacked four times when these teams met in Cleveland, three by Myles Garrett. Cleveland also had nine quarterback hits in that game. But the Browns failed to record a sack last week on 35 Bo Nix pass attempts.
• The Browns defense is fourth in pressure rate while Pittsburgh's offense is 25^th in pressure rate allowed.
• Najee Harris is the first player in Steelers history with 1,000-plus scrimmage yards in each of his first four seasons. Harris has touched the ball 18 or more times in every game Wilson has started with Pittsburgh.
• Jaylen Warren has a streak of six games in a row with 55-plus scrimmage yards.
• Harris and Warren both average 4.0 yards per carry, but Harris has 207 carries compared to 78 for Warren.
• Wilson has just 27 rushing yards in his six starts.
• The Steelers average 4.0 yards per carry.
• Cleveland stuffs ball carriers at or behind the line of scrimmage at a 22.2% clip, fourth-best in the NFL.
• Garrett has 14 tackles for loss. The next two Browns defenders are Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (10) and Za'Darius Smith (6) are injured reserve and the Lions roster now respectively. Smith (5) is also still second behind Garrett's team leading 10 sacks. No one else on the current roster has more than three.
• Pittsburgh's 45.2% red zone conversion rate is only better than the Giants, Cowboys, and Patriots and they are at 30% over their past three games.

WHEN CLEVELAND HAS THE BALL

• Pittsburgh's defense gave up 6.6 yards per play last week, and the Browns averaged 6.6 last Monday Night. But Cleveland still sits at 4.7 yards per play for the season, only the Bears are worse.
• Cleveland generates 18.2 points per game. Only the Giants, Patriots and Panthers are worse. But with Winston at quarterback, the Browns are producing 21.8 points per game.
• The Steelers defense is seeing pass on 61.8% of their snaps, the fourth-highest percentage.
• Cleveland operates out of 11 Personnel for 72.7% of its offensive snaps, the sixth-highest percentage in the league. Pittsburgh's defense sees 11 Personnel 63.7% of the time, the eighth-highest percentage.
• The Browns turn a set of downs into a new set of downs or touchdown 65% of the time. That is tied with Carolina for league worst. The Steelers defense (68%) is only behind the Eagles, Vikings and Texans in this metric.
• Pittsburgh has allowed 1.44 points per drive at home, second-best in the league.
• The Browns offense averages 66.3 plays run per game-most in the NFL. The Steelers defense averages 58.1 play run against it per game - fewest in the NFL.
• Cleveland put up 552 yards of total offense on Monday Night. Pittsburgh's defense allows 311.0 yards per game, sixth-best.
• The Browns average 5.2 yards per pass attempt. Only three teams are worse. But Winston averages 7.7.
• Winston has now started five games for Cleveland. After throwing for 497 yards in Denver (a new Browns record) with four touchdown passes, Winston averages 43.6 pass attempts, 27 completions and 336 yards. His low-water mark in all three categories came against the Steelers. Winston's has a 7/4 TD/INT ratio. His 9.5 average depth of target is fifth-highest among quarterbacks between Weeks 8-13. Winston also threw two pick sixes and three interceptions total in Denver last week. That was Winston's fifth career game with 400-plus passing yards.
• Winston has thrown past the first-down marker at the league's second-highest rate (48.3%). The Steelers have allowed the fifth-lowest completion percentage and have generated 11 interceptions on such throws.
• On top of Winston's 497 passing yards last week, the return yardage on his interceptions totaled 171 yards. Adding those two up, that 668 yards was the most of its kind in NFL history.
• Winston has just 14 more pass attempts this season than DeShaun Watson, but 615 more passing yards and six more passing touchdowns.
• Jerry Jeudy averaged 3.4 yards per route run in the first meeting against the Steelers and caught all six of his targets for 85 yards. In the five games with Winston as the starter, Jeudy averages 6.6 receptions for 122.8 receiving yards per game. He has reached five or more receptions and 73-plus yards in five consecutive games. Last week he caught nine passes for 235 yards and a touchdown on 13 targets and Jeudy averages 154 receiving yards over his last three games.
• With Cedric Tillman sidelined, Elijah Moore caught eight passes for 111 yards last week, both season highs. Moore has been targeted 54 times in Winston's six starts. Moore averages 1.66 yards per route run with Winston and .55 with other Browns quarterbacks.
• The Steelers allow 7.3 yards per target (sixth-best) and a 2.4% touchdown rate (second) to slot receivers.
• David Njoku was targeted 17 times last week, catching nine passes for 52 yards and two touchdowns. He has five or more receptions and seven or more targets in six of his last seven games but had just nine receiving yards on five targets against Pittsburgh. Njoku has seven targets in the end zone from Winston, a team-high 38.9%. The rest of the team has 11 such targets and no other pass catcher has more than four.
• The Steelers only had one sack when these teams last met. Still, Browns quarterbacks have been sacked 50 times this season, most in the league, and only the Bears and Titans have a worse sack rate allowed (9.6%).
• Cameron Heyward now has six sacks, 17 quarterback hits and eight pass defensed. His eight pass defensed leads the league amongst defensive linemen and is tied with Donte Jackson for the team lead. Keanu Benton is second in the league among defensive linemen with six.
• Watt has 32 forced fumbles in his career. That is the league lead since 2017 and he currently leads the NFL with five. He is also tied with Maxx Crosby for the league lead in tackles for loss (16). Last week was Watt's 23^rd career strip sack. That also leads the league since 2017. His three this season are tied with teammate Nick Herbig and Garrett for the NFL lead. Herbig has four forced fumbles.
• Watt has 17 sacks in 13 career games against the Browns.
• Alex Highsmith leads the Steelers with a 15.5% pressure rate.
• Only Xavier McKinney and Kerby Joseph (7 apiece) have more interceptions than Donte Jackson (5). Jackson's five interceptions have generated 88 return yards.
• DeShon Elliott leads all defensive players with three fumble recoveries.
• Cleveland averages just 87.3 rushing yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry, only ahead of Las Vegas and Dallas. Only the Cowboys have fewer runs of 10 or more yards (23). The Steelers have given up just 29 such carries, fourth-best. Pittsburgh surrenders 90.5 rushing yards per game, fourth-best, and 4.1 yards per carry, fifth-best.
• Opponents are running the ball between the tackles against Pittsburgh 56.0% of the time. Only the 49ers are seeing a higher percentage of inside runs.
• The Browns have a streak going of 20-straight games without having a running back with a 100-yard rushing output. Only Denver has a longer streak. Jerome Ford was the Browns' leading rushing last week with just 41 yards on nine carries.
• Cleveland didn't have a rushing attempt gain over nine yards in these teams' first meeting. Nick Chubb ran for just 59 yards on 20 carries in Week 12. He is averaging 3.0 yards per carry. The only running back with a worse yards per carry among the 57 with 50-plus carries is Zamir White (2.8). Chubb has a run of 10+ yards on 4.8% of his rushes. Of those qualified running backs, only two are worse.
• The Browns were just one of 10 on third downs in the last meeting but did gain a first down on all four of their fourth down attempts. For the season, Cleveland converts 29.2% of their third down attempts, worst in the league and over their past three games they are at 30.9%. The Browns convert third downs at a 25.9% rate on the road, also worst in the league. The Steelers defense allows a 34.0% conversion rate. The only defenses better are the Lions, Chargers, and Eagles.
• Cleveland's 60% red zone conversion rate is tied for seventh-best.
• Eleven different offensive linemen for the Browns have played 75+ snaps this season, most in the NFL.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Chris Boswell leads the NFL with 34 made field goals as well as 128 points scored. He made his 10^th 50-plus yard field goal last week. That is his most in a single season and only behind Ka'imi Fairbairn (13) for the league lead.
• Pittsburgh's average punt return goes for 11.4 yards. The average punt return against the Steelers goes for just 4.5, best in the league. Calvin Austin's 11.4 yards per punt return ranks eighth. The Steelers opponents gain 40.7 yards of field position per punt. Only six teams are better.
• The Steelers only punted once when these teams last met, and Corliss Waitman has punted just twice over Pittsburgh's last two games.
• There have been 13 missed field goals in Browns games this season.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

Jan. 5th*, 2003: AFC Wild Card Game: Steelers 36, Browns 33*

This certainly was a wild one in the Wild Card round. Late in the third quarter, Cleveland was winning this game 24-7. Kelly Holcomb finished the day with 429 passing yards, but the Browns could only muster up 38 rushing yards and a lack of a running game made it very difficult to put Pittsburgh away. Tommy Maddox led a furious late game comeback and the Steelers scored 22 fourth quarter points to advance in the next round to take on the Titans in the divisional round, a game Pittsburgh lost in overtime. Meanwhile, the Browns couldn't find their way back into the playoffs after this loss until 2020.

KEY MATCHUPS

Browns QB Jameis Winston vs. Steelers FS Minkah Fitzpatrick - Winston isn't bashful. He is one of the most volatile quarterbacks in the league right now - for good or bad. Last week in Denver epitomized that perfectly. Fitzpatrick has an interception drought going right now, but this could be the perfect opportunity for that to change.

Steelers LT Dan Moore vs. Browns DE Myles Garrett - Garrett caused the Steelers blocking schemes all kinds of problems in these teams' first meeting before the snow hit in the second half. The Browns will align Garrett all over the line of scrimmage and use him on stunts and twists, but more often than not, Moore will get the assignment of slowing down the Browns best player.