Mike Tomlin didn’t need much time to remind everyone how he feels about the Browns.
During the Sunday Night Football pregame show, the former Steelers head coach looked back on Cleveland’s rough opening day and dropped a line that Pittsburgh fans know well.
“Not off to a good start here. He [Watson] throws an interception. In the words of my friend JuJu Smith-Schuster, 'the Browns is the Browns,'” Tomlin said.
The jab came after Cleveland opened the season with one of the league’s uglier losses, a 34-10 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Deshaun Watson threw an interception and lost a fumble, rookie KC Conception also fumbled, and Watson finished as the Browns’ leading rusher with 38 yards. Trevor Lawrence, meanwhile, carved up Cleveland for four touchdown passes, and the Browns’ defense managed just one sack all game.
Tomlin’s line gave Steelers fans a familiar dose of old-school rivalry energy, only this time it played out on a national stage.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has a clean start to the year at 1-0, and the rest of the AFC North looked strong around the division. The Baltimore Ravens rolled past the Indianapolis Colts, 41-23, while the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 33-27.
The Steelers’ division schedule starts to take shape quickly. They host the Bengals in Week 3 at Acrisure Stadium, then head to Cleveland for a Week 4 Thursday Night Football matchup. Tomlin’s old team will see the Browns again in Week 8 in Pittsburgh, and the Bengals return in Week 10 on the road after the Steelers’ Week 9 bye.
Baltimore doesn’t show up until the late stretch. Pittsburgh hosts the Ravens in Week 15 and then closes the regular season at M&T Bank Stadium in Week 18, with kickoff time still to be announced as the NFL keeps an eye on the possibility of that game carrying playoff-seeding weight.
For now, the Steelers have the early edge in the division race, and Tomlin already has one sharp line in the chamber for his next rundown. After games against the New England Patriots in Week 2 and the Bengals in Week 3, he may have even more material ready for Week 4.
In Other News...
Terry Bradshaw Just Said What Steelers Fans Are Thinking About This Era
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Bradshaw did not try to hide his lean toward the Steelers while the rest of the studio crew was previewing the NFL slate. For Pittsburgh fans, the interest is obvious: any coaching switch invites questions about style, quarterback play and whether a new voice can shift the direction of an era, and Bradshaws comments captured that curiosity without pretending the transition will be easy to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
T.J. Watt Just Answered The Steelers Question Fans Feared Most
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For a defense built around pressure up front, Watts early showing mattered as much for reassurance as it did for the win itself. There had been questions after last season about whether he could still be the same dominant force, but this was a reminder that he remains the player opponents have to account for every snap, and that the Steelers ceiling on defense still runs through him. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Win Came With One Clear Reason For Concern
The Steelers opened the season with a win over Atlanta, but the victory was shaped as much by what happened on defense as anything on offense. Aaron Rodgers handled the passing game with a heavy workload, while Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle never got much room to establish the run, leaving Pittsburgh to lean on a unit that came out fast and kept the Falcons from taking control.
T.J. Watt was the headline act with two sacks and a touchdown interception, and Payton Wilson added a busy day with 13 tackles and two tackles for loss. The concern is harder to ignore on the other side of the ball, where the ground game never really found traction, and the Steelers may already be facing questions about whether that balance will hold up once the games get tighter. [Read more 🡒]