Cleveland has spent most of the last quarter century as an easy target, the kind of franchise people joked about without much fear of pushback. On Thursday night, that script got a jolt.
The Browns beat the Steelers 27-24 on national television and moved to 3-1, good for first place in the AFC North. More than the record, though, the way Cleveland played made the message loud: this isn’t the same old Browns outfit. The team looked faster, younger and far more dangerous than Pittsburgh, and it controlled most of the night in a way Cleveland usually hasn’t.
A big reason is the talent Berry has stacked through the draft. The Browns are loaded with young pieces, led by 2025 picks Carson Schwesinger, Mason Graham, Quinshon Judkins and Harold Fannin Jr. The 2026 class already looks strong too, with left tackle Spencer Fano, safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, and receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston.
On Thursday, those young players did real damage. Cleveland piled up 294 offensive yards from players on rookie deals, while Pittsburgh managed only 85.
The Browns also got two touchdowns and three sacks from those same players, and Schwesinger finished with a team-high nine tackles. That came one year after he posted 156 tackles, including 11 for loss.
The win also pushed Cleveland into a spot where the season suddenly looks like more than a nice start. The Browns have the Titans and Jets among their next three opponents, so there’s a real path to building momentum into November. The AFC North still runs through the Ravens and Bengals, with Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow looming, but simply being in the conversation would count as a major step in the first year of coach Todd Monken’s tenure.
There’s still one obvious missing piece: quarterback. Shedeur Sanders had a rough rookie season, completing 56.8% of his throws with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Deshaun Watson has been solid through four weeks with six touchdowns and two interceptions, but he’s in the final year of his deal and, at 31, is not the answer for the long haul.
That makes quarterback the last big job for Berry if he’s going to finish the turnaround. Cleveland hasn’t had its next great passer since Bernie Kosar in the 1980s, and that search still hangs over everything.
The contrast with Pittsburgh was hard to miss. The Steelers came into the season as the 22nd-oldest roster in the league, while Cleveland is the fourth-youngest, and it showed.
Aaron Rodgers looked “feeble and diminished,” with the 42-year-old skittish and unsure in the pocket. On the other side of the ball, Pittsburgh leaned on veterans such as T.J.
Watt, Cam Heyward and Jalen Ramsey.
Even the Steelers’ best rookie-contract talent belongs elsewhere now. Their top draft picks still on rookie deals are Joey Porter Jr. and George Pickens, both now starring for the Cowboys.
By the time fans were heading out of Huntington Bank Field, the mood was clear. The Browns are not just off to a good start this season. They may be building something bigger than that.
Berry still has work to do, and the quarterback search remains the biggest task. But Cleveland has assembled an infrastructure along Lake Erie that hasn’t been there in a long time.
If this young core keeps growing, the Browns won’t be the punchline anymore. They’ll be the story.
In Other News...
Browns Win Created A New Offensive Debate Cleveland Can't Ignore
The Browns walked out of Pittsburgh with another win, and it did more than extend their streak to three games and keep them atop the AFC North. It also sharpened the picture of how this offense is trying to win right now, with Jerry Jeudy helping to move the chains on the decisive drive and McLaughlin breaking loose for a 28-yard touchdown on just his second carry in a Browns uniform.
Cade York then finished it off from 56 yards, a career-long kick that extended his streak to 22 straight makes and gave Cleveland a victory built on more than just defense and field position. The result was exactly what the Browns wanted, but it also left a familiar question hanging over an offense that keeps finding different answers in big moments. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Suddenly Need Mike Hall Jr In A Spot They Feared
Mason Grahams early exit against the Steelers put an already thin Browns defensive line under immediate stress, and it changed the look of the rotation in a hurry. Cleveland has been managing injury issues up front for a while, including Kalia Davis landing on injured reserve, so every snap at defensive tackle matters more than it normally would for a defense built to win with depth and waves.
Maliek Collins helped steady things with a sack after Graham went down, but the bigger concern is how much Cleveland can ask of Mike Hall Jr. from here. The Browns had been hoping to avoid leaning too hard on that part of the roster, and now they may not have much choice if Grahams knee issue lingers. [Read more 🡒]
Todd Monken Had A Sideline Moment Browns Fans Will Notice
For a few minutes on Thursday night, the Browns had a little more than just a comfortable lead over Pittsburgh to enjoy. With Cleveland up 21-7 in the second quarter, head coach Todd Monken was caught on broadcast cameras chatting on the sideline and even drawing a laugh from an official, a rare lighthearted moment in the middle of a division game with plenty on the line.
It stood out because those kinds of exchanges are not usually the part of the night anyone remembers once the game tightens up. In a matchup that would later get more stressful as the Steelers started pushing back, the brief sideline scene offered Browns fans a glimpse of Monken in a looser moment while his team was still in control. [Read more 🡒]