The Browns visit the Steelers on Sunday, Nov. 1, in a game that Behind the Steel Curtain's Jarrett Bailey calls one of the games of the week in Week 8. Per Bailey, the winner takes sole possession of first place in the AFC North. Both teams are 5-2. Bailey also notes that Cleveland won the first matchup, but the feed summary cuts off before saying anything more about it. Our archive has no earlier Browns-Steelers game to check that against.
The other outlets' pieces are mostly viewing guides. Yahoo Sports' main version promises the TV distribution, the uniforms the Browns will wear and some history between the teams. A second Yahoo item, from Liz Kocan, covers start time and streaming. Dawgs By Nature's Chris Pokorny says Cleveland is on the road and that fans in the blue-shaded areas of the TV map get the game locally on CBS. His piece also has sections on uniforms and poster connections. None of the summaries gives a kickoff time or betting line, so we aren't printing either.
Cleveland gets there as division leader by the tiebreaker order in our table, not by record. The Browns' streak is W2: 27-24 at Tennessee on Oct. 25 and 13-10 over Baltimore on Oct. 18. Before those came a 17-12 loss at the Jets on Oct. 11. Their run differential is -13 across seven games, the weakest of any 5-2 team in the AFC. Pittsburgh's is +15.
| Team | W | L | PCT | Home | Away | Strk | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 2 | .750 | 4-0-0 | 2-2-0 | W4 | +36 | |
| 5 | 2 | .714 | 2-1-0 | 3-1-0 | W3 | +48 | |
| 5 | 3 | .625 | 3-0-0 | 2-3-0 | L1 | -34 | |
| 4 | 4 | .500 | 1-2-0 | 3-2-0 | L3 | -24 |
The Steelers have won three in a row, each by a clear margin: 34-22 over Indianapolis on Oct. 11, 26-19 at Tampa Bay on Oct. 18 and 16-10 at New Orleans on Oct. 25. They have scored 26 or more in two of those and have not allowed more than 22 in any. Cleveland's last two wins were by a combined four points.
The standings add some pressure. Cincinnati is 4-2 and half a game back, and Baltimore is 4-3. A loss would drop either 5-2 club out of first place at least temporarily, and it would leave the winner with a head-to-head edge. This is the first of what the reporting describes as two meetings, which makes the result matter for tiebreakers.
After Sunday, both clubs will have to work out what comes next. The game is scheduled for Heinz Field-area kickoff on CBS, per Pokorny's local-broadcast note.
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