The Curse of the Tie
by Greg Hillman
October 12th, 2018
by Greg Hillman
October 12th, 2018
Well I never thought I’d say this but, THE STEELERS ARE TIED FOR LAST PLACE WITH THE BROWNS! (Well, actually the Browns are ahead of the Steelers because they have 1 more division win but still.)
WHY? Well, I'll tell you why, Baker Mayfield. He wasn’t supposed to be the 1st overall Pick but as always the Browns took a quarterback anyway. Mayfield has been the quarterback that the Browns have dreamed of for 20 YEARS! Remember he didn´t start for the first two weeks against the Steelers and Saints and they still managed to go 0-1-1. In the 3 games he’s started,he's completed a minimum of 50% of his passes and threw for at least 200 yards. Add 2 wins in those 3 games too.
Through 5 weeks of the season the Browns have made every single possible game outcome (Tie, Win/Lose in Regulation and, Win/Lose in OT). Prior to that only 4 teams in NFL history have ever done that! This struggling tie with the Steelers is sending a message to the NFL. That the Browns are a young team and the Steelers need to stop playing down to the level of their opponent. (Score 50 against the Patriots and only scoring 10 against Cleveland pretty much describes the Steelers from the past 3 seasons.) Ben Roethlisberger has more wins against Cleveland than any Browns QB starter since 1999 with a 22-2-1 record(should be 23-2). And with him retiring in the next 3-4 years he has only 6-8 games remaining against them (including 1 more this season).
Looking at the Browns and Steelers schedules the remaining games favor the Browns. Cleveland has it easy as the play Houston, Tampa, Denver. The only challenges they could have are KC, and Cincinnati and possibly the Steelers but after Week 1 I kind of doubt it. The Steelers on the other hand have have a rougher road ahead. They still have to go on the road to Jacksonville (Week 11),New Orleans (Week 16), Baltimore (Week 9) and play New England (Week 15) at home. With Le’veon Bell coming back in Week 7 (well technically week 8 since week 7 is the bye) hopefully it will light a spark in the Steelers offense. This week they travel to the division leading 4-1 Bengals and the Browns entertain the LA Chargers (still not used to the LA part). Both important games. Hopefully (as a Steeler fan) this tie between them will break and the Steelers will be in front of the Browns in the standings and not what it’s been for the past 4 weeks. But, Sunday can’t come soon enough and frankly if I’m the Steelers it’s time to start winning and winning big.
WHY? Well, I'll tell you why, Baker Mayfield. He wasn’t supposed to be the 1st overall Pick but as always the Browns took a quarterback anyway. Mayfield has been the quarterback that the Browns have dreamed of for 20 YEARS! Remember he didn´t start for the first two weeks against the Steelers and Saints and they still managed to go 0-1-1. In the 3 games he’s started,he's completed a minimum of 50% of his passes and threw for at least 200 yards. Add 2 wins in those 3 games too.
Through 5 weeks of the season the Browns have made every single possible game outcome (Tie, Win/Lose in Regulation and, Win/Lose in OT). Prior to that only 4 teams in NFL history have ever done that! This struggling tie with the Steelers is sending a message to the NFL. That the Browns are a young team and the Steelers need to stop playing down to the level of their opponent. (Score 50 against the Patriots and only scoring 10 against Cleveland pretty much describes the Steelers from the past 3 seasons.) Ben Roethlisberger has more wins against Cleveland than any Browns QB starter since 1999 with a 22-2-1 record(should be 23-2). And with him retiring in the next 3-4 years he has only 6-8 games remaining against them (including 1 more this season).
Looking at the Browns and Steelers schedules the remaining games favor the Browns. Cleveland has it easy as the play Houston, Tampa, Denver. The only challenges they could have are KC, and Cincinnati and possibly the Steelers but after Week 1 I kind of doubt it. The Steelers on the other hand have have a rougher road ahead. They still have to go on the road to Jacksonville (Week 11),New Orleans (Week 16), Baltimore (Week 9) and play New England (Week 15) at home. With Le’veon Bell coming back in Week 7 (well technically week 8 since week 7 is the bye) hopefully it will light a spark in the Steelers offense. This week they travel to the division leading 4-1 Bengals and the Browns entertain the LA Chargers (still not used to the LA part). Both important games. Hopefully (as a Steeler fan) this tie between them will break and the Steelers will be in front of the Browns in the standings and not what it’s been for the past 4 weeks. But, Sunday can’t come soon enough and frankly if I’m the Steelers it’s time to start winning and winning big.