BROWNS / STEELERS rivalry, dead or a non issue ?

[The Gipper]

As someone said, it will simply take a sweep by the Browns to rekindle things. The big difference between the Steelers and the Browns right now comes down to two players: BR and Brown. (I think with the Crow and Duke the Browns run game can come close to matching the Steelers run game with Bell).

Those two DO make a big difference. The QB obviously does.

[Orion]

First... when gumby has to act as interpreter...

lol

 

 

One other thought... I'm not sure there's another division in the NFL that loads a team with natural rivalries close to the level that the AFCN does us.

• Two regional rivals, with one intrastate.
• A rival founded by our founder.
• A rival that was once our team... that was founded by our owner.

I'm not sure there is such a thing as "rivalry overload syndrome", but if there is, then I don't think there's a better candidate in the NFL for it than us.

All we'd have to do is replace the Steelers with the Rams and we'd be tied to every team.

Next realignment....Rams in, Steelers out...and divisions will be renamed with 'color' names.

[gumby73]

My Brownie car flag with the middle finger up goes on at exit 32 Hagerstown I-70W till the Penn.Turnpike ends in O-H-I-O. Go Browns!!

Off the board till 15th..Steelnags here I come..Flag on Board

 

First... when gumby has to act as interpreter...

Keep your fingers pushing the right keys..The "In twerp re TaTer" is Out..Gone to meet up with the U of Toledo brothers & gone to Fishing Tourney at dads at Presque Isle. Ickiegan.(dog water smell starts about Brighton) .. no cell or wifi service..perfect Enjoy ..Get your A$$ in Camp Peppers!!

[Tour2ma]

Actually the rivalry started being one sided before the browns moved to Balt.

 

This ^... but the one-sidedness started wa-a-a-a-ay before the move.

• In the 50's the Browns won 16 of 20 games...
• In the 60's the Browns won 15 of 20.

That's 31 of 40 in our first two decades of "competition"... the two decades in which I grew up.

 

Other fellow "old farts" can chime in, but when I grew up the Steelers were not "a rival"... you were our doormat. Our rivals were the Giants and the Lions and the Packers and the Colts. All were teams that played us hard in the regular season and that we met frequently in the post-season. In the history of our "Steeler rivalry", how many times have we met in the playoffs? (HINT: The answer lies between 1 and 3.)

 

I can rattle off a dozen names from each of these pre-70 powerhouses. I can name two, pre-70 Steelers: a used up Bobby Layne and John Henry Johnson... make that three as Ernie Stautner just popped into my head for some unknown reason.

 

Then in the 70's y'all flipped the script taking 15 games.

 

Even our one, close decade, the 80's, was a tale of two halves. Overall we won 12 of 20, but you won 5 of the first 6 and we closed the decade winning 7 of 8.

 

 

So my point?

• We've simply never been good at the same time...
• The "meaningful games" we have played have largely been where one team can spoil the other's playoff hopes.
• We've met twice in the playoffs... in 67 years... twice.

We have the stuff of a rivalry... we just don't have the stuffing.

 

Not yet anyway...

.

[Orion]

Other fellow "old farts" can chime in,

.

 

....fart...I mean, Chime.

 

My grandfather was a Steelers & Pirates fan (he was a nice man, my grandpa).

We would go visit him and he'd say to me (as a little boy), "Oh, Allen. You're Browns beat up my Steelers again last week."

 

He passed away about a month before the immaculate reception.

I hope I don't have to sacrifice myself for the Browns to win super bowls...

 

Beating our division rivals means a lot to me (and I'm sure to all of us posting on Browns message boards).

It's why I was SOOOoooo pissed off at the way we lost that final game of the season against the Steelers. We gave away a win against the team that we want to beat more than any other team in the world. That's the worst slap in the face a Browns fan can get I think.