The AFC North has several great rivalries. Each combination is frankly an unmissable game, given the current quality of the teams.
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson sees a rivalry in the division among the top rivalries in all of sports: Browns-Steelers.
“Cleveland-Pittsburgh, for sure,” Watson said on his podcast, via Troy Montgomery of SteelersDepot.com. “It’s even bigger than Cincinnati. It’s not Baltimore. Baltimore is up there, But it’s not as real as Pittsburgh.”
The AFC North, formerly the AFC Central, has always had strong rivalries. In the early 1970s, Browns-Steelers came into its own. At the end of the decade, the Steelers and Oilers faced each other in back-to-back AFC championships.
The Browns and Steelers had a memorable Monday night game at Field, formerly known as Heinz, early last season. Pittsburgh leads the all-time series, 81-63-1. This decade was the closest ever in the history of the rivalry, at 5-4.
This year, they don’t meet until Week 12. They play again in Week 14.
Perhaps they will also meet in the postseason, for the fourth time.