Cheat Sheet: Steelers vs. Browns

SERIES HISTORY

The Steelers and Browns have met 144 times dating back to 1950. Of those 144 matchups, only three have been in the post season. Pittsburgh is 2-1 in the playoffs against the Browns. Overall, this series sits at 81-63-1 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. In 1962, the tides greatly turned to the Steelers favor. The Browns won just four games between that point until 1983. Even more extreme, starting in 1994, Pittsburgh has won 43 of the next 52 games with a tie thrown in during that time. The Steelers have won four of the last six meetings, but the Browns won the latest meeting, 13-10. Mike Tomlin's career record vs. Cleveland is 26-7-1. Since 2007, the Steelers have outscored Cleveland by 274 points in these head-to-head matchups.

MATCHUP OVERVIEW

• Pittsburgh went to 8-2 last week while the Browns fell to 2-8. The Steelers are 4-1 on the road, while Cleveland is 1-4 at home. Pittsburgh is on a five-game winning streak after winning its first divisional game of the season. The Browns are 1-1 in the AFC North. Dating back to 2023, Pittsburgh is 6-1 in the division. The Steelers' 8-2 start is tied for their second-best under Mike Tomlin and they own a league-high five victories over teams currently with a winning record.
• Pittsburgh has outscored opponents by 71 points, while the Browns have allowed 86 more points than they have produced. The Steelers have a plus-80 second-half point differential.
• Both of Pittsburgh's losses this season were by three points in Weeks 4 and 5. The Steelers minus-3 average point differential per loss is the lowest in the NFL.
• Pittsburgh has put points on the board in 22 consecutive quarters. That is the longest streak in the NFL.
• Tomlin has a 1-7 record on the road on Thursday Night.
• In the Steelers' past 20 games following a meeting with the Ravens, they are 10-10.
• Pittsburgh's plus-11 turnover differential is only behind Buffalo. The Browns sit at minus-5. The Steelers have 19 takeaways compared to seven for Cleveland and have 11 interceptions compared to two by the Browns. Pittsburgh has only turned the ball over eight times. Just three teams are better, and only the Chargers (1) have thrown fewer interceptions than the Steelers (3). Last week was the seventh instance in 2024 that Pittsburgh forced more turnovers than their opponent, which is one behind the Bills for the league lead. The Steelers are 6-1 in such games. Pittsburgh's defense has recovered 63.6% of the fumbles it has forced, the sixth-highest percentage in the league.
• Pittsburgh averages 3.4 points per drive after causing a turnover or blocking a kick. That is eighth-best.
• The Steelers possessed the football for 36:22 against Baltimore. That brings their time of possession up to 32:37. Over the past three weeks, Pittsburgh is at 33:57. The Steelers possess the ball for 33:24 in road games this season. Cleveland is at 31:07 for the year, 31:32 over their last three and 31:20 at home.
• The Browns average 65.6 plays run per game. Pittsburgh is at 65.4. That is the third- and sixth-most, respectively. Steelers' opponents average 58.5 and Cleveland's average 59.5. That is fourth- and ninth-most, respectively.
• The Steelers have run the football 119 times more than their opponents this season and have 459 more rushing yards than they have allowed. Cleveland has given up 432 more rushing yards than it has produced and surrender .8 more rushing yards per attempt. Opponents have 11 more rushing touchdowns, as well.
• The Browns and Steelers each average 4.0 yards per rush attempt.
• Opponents have scored 13 more touchdowns than Cleveland. The Browns give up 1.9 yards per pass attempt more than they produce. They have been sacked 18 more times than they've sacked their opponents.
• Pittsburgh has benefited from 26 first downs via penalties while only conceding 12. Cleveland has 74 accepted penalties against it this season. Only the Ravens, Titans, Seahawks and Jets have more, and Baltimore and New York have played one more game than the Browns.

WHEN PITTSBURGH HAS THE BALL

• Pittsburgh's offense averages 5.0 yards per play and 4.7 on the road. Cleveland gives up 5.8 for the season, 6.8 over their last three, but only 5.2 at home this season. New Orleans averaged 8.2 yards per play against the Browns in Week 11.
• Pittsburgh averages 14.4 points scored in the second halves of games. Only the Eagles, Ravens, Bengals and Bills are better. Cleveland allows 13.9 in the first half. Only five teams are worse.
• Only the Eagles are passing the ball at a lower rate this year than the Steelers (47.6%). On early downs, there are five more run-heavy offenses.
• Pittsburgh utilizes 11 Personnel on 47.2% of snaps, the 27^th-highest percentage in the NFL. The Steelers are first in their usage of 13 Personnel (19%), as well as 14 Personnel (1%). The Browns face 11 Personnel at a 52.7% of their snaps, the 28^th-highest percentage. They face 12 Personnel (27.4%) at the league's third-highest rate.
• Cleveland has allowed a 61.7% completion rate (fourth), but a league-high 12.7 yards per completion and a 4.8% touchdown rate (20^th).
• George Pickens posted season-highs in targets (12) and receptions (8) last week. He has reached 74 or more yards and four or more receptions in each of Wilson's starts. During that stretch, Pickens has a 92% route participation and 31% target share.
• Mike Williams' route participation went from 21% in his Steelers debut to 36% against the Ravens. And his snap share rose from 12% to 32%. In turn, Calvin Austin had his lowest snap share of the season (33%) against the Ravens. Ben Skowronek also played 20 snaps in that game.
• Pat Freiermuth has not been targeted more than three times in a single game since Week 5. He has an 8% target share with Wilson as the starting quarterback.
• Najee Harris has touched the ball 21-plus times in every game Wilson has started.
• Jaylen Warren has a streak of four games in a row with 55-plus scrimmage yards. This was his third-straight game of averaging 4.6 yards per carry or better.
• Myles Garrett leads the Browns with seven sacks, but no one else currently on the roster has more than three. Garrett had three sacks in one game.
• The Browns allowed 7.6 yards per rush last week. The Saints ran for 214 yards against this Cleveland defense, 138 of that on seven Taysom Hill carries. But Cleveland has yet to allow a 100-yard game to a running back.
• The Browns give up 4.8 yards per rush attempt. Only four defenses are worse.
• Pittsburgh's 44.4% red zone success rate is only better than the Giants and Cowboys. The Steelers have converted 52.9% of their goal-to-go situations into touchdowns, the lowest rate in the league. League average is 72.5%.
• The Browns are stopping opponents on third downs 33.1% of the time, fifth-best.
• 8.4% of plays run against Cleveland have resulted in gains of 20-plus yards, the highest rate in the NFL.

WHEN CLEVELAND HAS THE BALL

• The Browns average a league-worst 4.4 yards per play, but they are at 5.4 just over their past three games with Jameis Winston as the starting quarterback. They are at 4.2 at home for the season. Pittsburgh gives up 5.2 yards per play, 5.4 over their last three, but just 4.8 on the road.
• Cleveland's 16.2 points per game is only better than the Giants. Pittsburgh's 16.2 points per game allowed is only behind the Chargers.
• The Browns are throwing the ball at the highest rate in the NFL (65.9%). The Steelers defense is seeing a 61.7% pass rate. Only the Vikings, Ravens and Lions see a higher pass rate against. Only the Bengals throw the ball on early downs more than Cleveland (61.3%).
• Cleveland's offense utilizes 11 Personnel on 74.9% of snaps, the sixth-highest percentage in the NFL. Pittsburgh faces 11 Personnel on 67.4% of its snaps, the fifth-highest rate among defenses.
• At 63%, the Browns are tied for the worst offense in the league at turning a set of downs into a new set of downs or a touchdown. Meanwhile, the Steelers defense is tied for the best at 66%. 21.6% of early-down plays for Cleveland have resulted in a first down or touchdown, 31^st in the league.
• Cleveland has scored a touchdown on 12.9% of its offensive drives, the lowest rate in the league. The Steelers have allowed a touchdown on 15.5% of defensive drives. Only four defenses are better.
• 7.2% of the Browns offensive plays result in a gain of 15-plus yards, the lowest rate in the league. They are 30^th in such runs (1.0%) and 31^st in such passes (6.2%).
• Cleveland averages 5.9 yards per pass attempt. Only the Panthers are worse. However, over the last three games, that spikes to 7.2 per attempt.
• Against New Orleans, Winston threw for 395 yards on 46 attempts without an interception. He averaged 11.2 yards per attempt, the best from any Cleveland quarterback this season.
• In Winston's three starts, he averages 44.3 pass attempts and 321.3 passing yards. He has seven touchdowns and three interceptions and has attempted 145 passes.
• Winston has thrown the ball 71 fewer times than DeShaun Watson this season but has just 101 fewer passing yards and has two more touchdown passes.
• Winston's average depth of target by year: 2015: 10.4 (5^th), 2016 10.8 (2^nd), 2017: 11.0 (1^st), 2018: 11.3 (2^nd), 2019: 10.9 (2^nd), 2021: 9.5 (5^th), 2022: 12.0 (1^st), 2023: 12.7 (1^st), 2024: 10.9 (2^nd).
• Of a possible 73 snaps last week, Cedric Tillman played 70, Jerry Jeudy played 62 and Elijah Moore played 50. In Winston's three starts Tillman has 28 targets compared to 30 for Jeudy and 29 for Moore. All three wide receivers have received at least eight targets in each one of Winston's starts.
• Jeudy caught six passes last week for 142 yards and a touchdown and led the Browns with 11 targets.
• The Steelers allow a 57.5% catch rate (fourth-best) and a 2.7% touchdown rate (second) to the wide receiver position.
• Pittsburgh has a league-best 1.4% touchdown rate to slot receivers.
• Tight end David Njoku caught nine passes for 81 yards last week. He has 25 targets from Winston over the past three games.
• Jerome Ford out snapped Nick Chubb 41-20 last week and played eight of the nine third-down opportunities. Ford ran 20 more routes than Chubb against New Orleans.
• The Steelers have allowed just nine passing touchdowns this year.
• The Browns allow an NFL-worst 4.6 sacks per game. They are also 32^nd in pressure rate allowed.
• After last week, TJ Watt now has 17 career sacks against the Ravens as well as the Browns. That is the most by any player against a specific team since 2017.
• Pittsburgh gives up just 4.1 yards per rush attempt, tied for fifth-best. Just 1.3% of rushing attempts against the Steelers go for 15-plus yards, fourth-best.
• Only three teams produce fewer rushing yards per game (88.5) than Cleveland, and only three defenses allow fewer yards on the ground (90.8) than the Steelers. The Browns could generate just 66 rushing yards in New Orleans on 20 carries.
• Chubb averages just 3.1 yards per rush attempt this season.
• The Steelers allow 3.97 yards per carry to the running back position, seventh-best.
• The Browns had five snaps last week with no running backs on the field.
• Not only is Cleveland's 28.1% third down conversion rate the worst in the league, but it is also 3.7 percentage points worse than the 31^st ranked Bears. The Browns were just three of 13 on third downs in Week 11 and one of three on fourth downs. The Steelers are stopping opponents on third downs 34.9% of the time, ninth-best. Only the Patriots have snapped the football more often on third downs than Cleveland.
• The Browns offense has only been to the red zone 17 times, lowest in the league. The Bears rank 31^st with 23 trips to the red zone.
• The Steelers held Baltimore to a season-low yardage total in Week 11. They did the same to Washington in Week 10.
• The Browns have started seven different offensive line combinations to start a game. That is the second-most in the league behind New England.
• Per EPA, only the Eagles and Bears have faced an easier slate of defenses than Cleveland, but including this game against the Steelers, only the Bears, Ravens and Lions face a more difficult slate of defenses going forward.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• The Steelers opponents have only made 15 field goals this year. Pittsburgh has made 29, including six last week. That was the second time this season that Chris Boswell accounted for all Pittsburgh's points in a winning effort. Boswell is on pace to set the NFL record for field goals made in one season.
• For his career, Boswell is 39 of 47 from 50 or more yards (83%).
• Cleveland's Dustin Hopkins had two misses last week and is 14 for 20 on field goals.
• There have been five missed field goal attempts vs. Pittsburgh this year.
• Steelers' opponents average 4.5 yards per punt return. That is the best in the league.
• Pittsburgh's 45.6 average net punt is sixth-best.

Most Memorable Moment:

Jan. 10, 2021: Wild Card Game: Browns 48, Steelers 37, Heinz Field

Not to bring up bad memories for Steelers fans, but let's go back and rehash the last time the Browns came to Pittsburgh in the postseason. This one of course didn't go as the Steelers would have liked it started in tragic fashion when Maurkice Pouncey snapped the ball over Ben Roethlisberger's head which put the Steelers behind from the start. Cleveland took a 35-10 lead into halftime. But Pittsburgh outscored the Browns 27-13 in the second half. Roethlisberger threw for 501 yards, but the Steelers came up just short. The irony of this game is if the Steelers won in Week 17 in Cleveland, a game in which Pittsburgh rested many key starters and still only lost 24-22, the Browns don't get in the playoffs. The following Sunday, the Browns traveled to Kansas City and lost a close game to the Chiefs.

KEY MATCHUPS

Browns TE David Njoku vs. Steelers SS DeShon Elliott - Dealing with Njoku won't entirely fall on Elliott's shoulders. He will get plenty of help from the Steelers off-ball linebackers. Pittsburgh assigned Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Ravens tight ends quite a bit last week, as well. Njoku has really come into his own as a weapon and is one of the best after-the-catch tight ends in football, so tackling the catch will be extra important.

Steelers Offensive Tackles vs. Browns DE Myles Garrett - Garrett didn't have a sack last week. In fact, he didn't show up in the box score at all. Still, he is an elite player and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. The Browns will move Garrett around quite a bit and the Steelers' pass protection schemes must be very aware of his alignment on a snap-to-snap basis, particularly in passing situations.