Browns vs. Steelers Tickets

Long before the Browns endured so much heartbreak, they prospered. Hall of Famer Paul Brown, the team's namesake and first head coach, led the Browns to four consecutive championships from 1946 to 1949 in the short-lived All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham spearheaded three NFL championships in the 1950s (1950, 1954, 1955) to help Cleveland become a force in the first half of the decade. The Browns' eight titles before the 1970 NFL merger put them in rarified air. Superstar running back Jim Brown's arrival in 1957 ultimately helped the franchise win another NFL championship seven years later. All-time greats like fullback Marion Motley and wide receiver Paul Warfield flashed their talents, but prosperity gave way to pain. The Browns morphed into the unluckiest team in football. A dark cloud hung over the team. The players and coaches changed, but misfortune followed the franchise in the biggest moments. Clevelanders were among the most passionate fans in sports, but their loyalty was tested after a string of unfathomable events. The favored Browns trailed by two points at the Oakland Raiders' 13-yard line in the waning moments of the 1980 divisional playoffs when disaster struck. Rather than run the ball to set up a short field goal to win, Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano dialed up “Red Right 88,” a pass intended for Pro Bowl tight end Ozzie Newsome. Quarterback Brian Sipe's floater was intercepted in the end zone to sink the Browns. The Raiders wound up winning the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only moment to live in infamy for Browns fans. The Denver Broncos dealt crushing blows to Cleveland in back-to-back AFC Championship Games in 1986 and 1987. First, John Elway's epic 98-yard, game-tying touchdown drive set the stage for an overtime heartbreaker for the Browns. The next season, Cleveland running back Earnest Byner fumbled just as he was about to cross the end zone for a game-tying score in the final minute of the game. The biggest blow, however, was dealt by Browns owner Art Modell, who moved the team to Baltimore after the 1995 season. The NFL awarded an expansion franchise in 1999 with the same name and team colors, but the vitriol toward Modell remained. The team slipped into irrelevance in the 2000s with 12 consecutive losing seasons from 2008 to 2019. The Browns went 1-15 in 2016 before becoming the second team in NFL history to go 0-16 the following season. Fans dubbed their stadium the “Factory of Sadness,” a place where nothing good ever happens. The ghosts of Sipe, Byner, and Modell appeared to be taunting them. The franchise cycled through eight head coaches in 17 seasons before the tide changed. The Browns snapped their 17-year playoff drought by making the postseason in Kevin Stefanski's first year in charge in 2020. Now, the Dawg Pound — the franchise's rabid fans draped in canine wear on one end of the stadium — have a team led by quarterback Baker Mayfield that has a legitimate chance to make it to the Super Bowl.

The Steelers lived on the NFL margins before morphing into one of the league's most successful franchises in the Super Bowl era. Pittsburgh entered the NFL in 1933 as the Pittsburgh Pirates before changing its name before the 1940 season. Those early clubs were largely irrelevant in the league landscape. Pittsburgh made the playoffs just once before the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. The franchise combined rosters twice during World War II due to a player shortage. They merged with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1943 to form the “Steagles.” In 1944, the Steelers joined with the Chicago Cardinals to create the “Carpets” that went 0-10. The direction of the franchise forever changed when it hired Chuck Knoll — who was the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Colts — to become the head coach. Knoll went on to become arguably the best talent evaluator in NFL history. He drafted one Hall of Famer after another in the early 1970s to set the foundation for one of the greatest dynasties in league history. The Steelers' 1974 draft, which included four Hall of Famers (Jack Lambert, Mike Webster, Lynn Swann, and John Stallworth), is renowned as the best single draft class ever. Knoll used that foundation to rule the NFL landscape in the 1970s. Pittsburgh won four Super Bowls from 1974 to 1979 thanks to its ferocious “Steel Curtain” defense and ground attack led by future Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris. The Steelers' decade of dominance made some wonder if they would ever give up their place on the NFL mountaintop. The 1980s, however, weren't nearly as good to the Rooney family, which has always owned the franchise. The Steelers made the playoffs a few times but finished with losing records in 1985, 1986, and 1988. Knoll gave way to Bill Cowher, who breathed life back into the proud franchise with six playoff appearances in his first six seasons at the helm. Pittsburgh's “Blitzburgh” defense wasn't good enough to hoist a Lombardi Trophy, but the franchise did win their fifth Super Bowl in 2006 under Cowher. Mike Tomlin guided the Steelers to a sixth ring in 2009. The Steelers are the gold standard in the NFL with six Super Bowl titles, 30 playoff appearances, and 22 division crowns in the Super Bowl era. Twenty players, two head coaches, two members of the Rooney family, and one scout have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The Steelers and Browns became natural rivals more than 80 years ago due to the proximity of the cities connected by the Pennsylvania and Ohio turnpikes. The so-called “Turnpike War” prompted plenty of trash talk between two of the most loyal fanbases in sports. Steeler Nation and Browns followers routinely made the two-hour drive to watch the clashes in enemy territory. Although the Steelers have had their fair share of regular-season and postseason battles with AFC foes, like the Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, and New York Jets, no team has stirred up Steeler Nation like the Browns. The resentment lives on today between the AFC North clubs.

Believe it or not, the Steelers were second-class citizens to the Browns in the first decade of the rivalry. Cleveland dominated their foes in the 1950s. It took four years before Pittsburgh won its first game against the Browns. The Steelers were among the NFL's also-rans, while the Browns were champions. Cleveland torched Pittsburgh time and time again for nearly 20 years. The Browns went 31-9 against the Steelers in the 1950s and 1960s. Cleveland owner Art Modell scheduled home games against Pittsburgh in the '60s in prime time on Saturdays to raise the visibility of the rivalry. The Browns were rolling until Steelers owner Art Rooney made the smartest decision of his life, which rocked the rivalry.

The 1970s belonged to the Steelers in a very big way. Rooney's decision to hire Chuck Knoll, a Cleveland native and former Browns linebacker, was pure genius, catapulting the franchise into a new stratosphere. Knoll's drafting and coaching acumen propelled Pittsburgh to incredible heights. Not only did the Steelers flip the script in the Turnpike War by winning 15 of 20 games against the Browns in the decade, but they owned the entire league. Pittsburgh racked up four Lombardi Trophies in the decade with Knoll at the helm. The Browns didn't take too kindly to their rival's success, though. Nothing captured Cleveland's disdain better than Browns linebacker Joe “Turkey” Jones' vicious body slam of quarterback Terry Bradshaw in 1976. Bradshaw suffered a neck injury on the sack and made it clear these two franchises weren't going to break bread anytime soon.

Although the Steelers no longer dominated the NFL landscape in the 1980s, they still got the best of their rivals early in the decade. The Browns went winless against the Steelers before head coach Marty Schottenheimer — who led Cleveland to four consecutive playoff appearances from 1985 to 1988 — snapped them out of their funk. Schottenheimer, a Pittsburgh-area native, was replaced by Bill Belichick, who oversaw the most turbulent time for the franchise. Modell left Cleveland high and dry to relocate the franchise to Baltimore after the 1995 season. Steelers fans wore orange armbands at the final Steelers-Browns game in 1996 to pay tribute to the rivalry. The rivalry resumed when the Browns returned as an expansion team in 1999.

The expansion Browns didn't stand a chance against the Steelers in the early 2000s. Pittsburgh is 35-9-1 since Cleveland was awarded an NFL team after Modell's great escape. The Steelers, who moved into the new Heinz Field at the start of the new millennium, flourished with two more Super Bowl titles, while the Browns circled the drain. Pittsburgh found its franchise quarterback with Ben Roethlisberger, while the Browns cycled through one bust after another at the game's most important position. The arrivals of Kevin Stefanski and Baker Mayfield have given Browns fans hope that maybe, just maybe, they will finally win their first Super Bowl. The Browns gave everyone a glimpse of what they could do after making the postseason for the first time in two decades last year. The Wild Card round will be remembered by both teams for a long time. The Browns used a pair of Kareem Hunt touchdowns to jump out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter of the AFC wild card before the Steelers mounted a furious comeback. James Conner's 1-yard touchdown late in the second quarter put the Steelers on the board. Chris Boswell's 49-yard field goal as time expired in the first half made it 35-10 at intermission. Touchdown grabs by Eric Ebron and JuJu Smith-Schuster in the third quarter cut the Browns' lead to 35-23. However, the Steelers didn't roll over. Chase Claypool's touchdown early in the fourth quarter got to within 12 points, but a pair of Cody Parkey field goals sealed the Steelers' fate. The Browns lost to Kansas City in the divisional round the following week, but they put everyone on notice that they are Super Bowl contenders moving forward.

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