 Browns and Steelers face off during the2019 season. | |
 Cleveland Browns  Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| Location | Cleveland,Pittsburgh |
|---|---|
| First meeting | October 7, 1950 Browns 30,Steelers 17[1] |
| Latest meeting | October 12, 2025 Steelers 23, Browns 9[1] |
| Next meeting | December 28, 2025 |
| Stadiums | Browns:Huntington Bank Field Steelers:Acrisure Stadium |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 148[1] |
| All-time series | Steelers: 83–64–1[1] |
| Regular season series | Steelers: 81–63–1[1] |
| Postseason results | Steelers: 2–1[1] |
| Largest victory | Browns: 51–0(1989) Steelers: 43–0(1999)[1] |
| Most points scored | Browns: 51(1989) Steelers: 55(1954)[1] |
| Longest win streak | Browns: 8 (1950–1953) Steelers: 12 (2003–2009)[1] |
| Current win streak | Steelers: 2 (2024–present)[1] |
| Post-season history[1] | |
| |
TheBrowns–Steelers rivalry orTurnpike Rivalry is aNational Football League (NFL)rivalry between theCleveland Browns andPittsburgh Steelers.
The rivalry originated during the1950 season, following theAAFC–NFL merger, which placed the Browns and Steelers in the same conference, theNFL American Conference (later referred to as the NFL Eastern Conference starting in the1953 season). This alignment led to the teams facing each other twice each year. Since theAFL–NFL merger, the Browns and Steelers have been competing in theAFC North (previously known as the AFC Central until 2001).
The rivalry, featuring 146 meetings, stands as the oldest rivalry and the most frequently played matchup in theAmerican Football Conference. The two divisional foes have a natural rivalry due to the commonalities between the cities, proximity, etc. It is sometimes called theTurnpike Rivalry orTurnpike War[2] because the majority of the driving route between the two cities are via theOhio andPennsylvania Turnpikes.
The Steelers lead the overall series, 83–64–1. The two teams have met three times in theplayoffs, with the Steelers holding a 2–1 advantage.[1]
The rivalry was primarily fueled by the close proximity between the two cities, asCleveland andPittsburgh are roughly 135 miles apart. Many fans make the two-hour drive by car to away games. The city ofYoungstown, Ohio is roughly located halfway between the two cities, is split roughly 50/50 between the two teams and was within the 75-mileblackout radius for both teams before blackouts were abolished in the mid-2010s. The Youngstown television market is a secondary market for both teams because of its proximity to both cities, meaning that road games for both the Browns and Steelers are by NFL rule to be shown in Youngstown. Both teams have such strong fan bases that neither typically had blackout issues, although the final two games of the 1995 season were blacked out in Cleveland (the last two prior to the original Browns'move to Baltimore).[3]WKBN-TV broadcasts both teams; when they play at the same time the station chooses one game, and gets many calls from disappointed fans of the other team.[4]
In recent times, Pittsburgh-area businesses have entered the Cleveland market by buying out local Cleveland-area competitors such asGiant Eagle,Dollar Bank, Howard Hanna Realty, andPNC Financial Servicesacquisition ofNational City Corp. Among other reasons, some Clevelanders didn't like the idea of a Pittsburgh-based bank buying National City because of the rivalry between the Browns and Steelers.[5] PNC and Giant Eagle are official team sponsors for both teams. In addition, natural expansion has occurred with companies withWestern Pennsylvania roots withVocelli Pizza andAltoona-basedSheetz making successful expansions into the Cleveland market.
Conversely,Eaton Corporation was founded in Cleveland and has long had significant operations in Pittsburgh.Forest City Enterprises owns billions of dollars of Pittsburgh-area real estate. The Cleveland branch of theFederal Reserve includes Pittsburgh in its territory. Cleveland-basedSherwin-Williams has locations throughout Pittsburgh and nationally is one of the top competitors to Pittsburgh-basedPPG Industries. Two former Cleveland-based businesses,Picway Shoes andRevco, had locations throughout Pittsburgh before being bought out byPayless ShoeSource in 1994 andCVS/pharmacy in 1998, respectively. National City Bank itself had expanded into Pittsburgh in 1995 through its acquisition ofIntegra Bank and actually causedantitrust problems when PNC bought National City in 2008, being forced to divest 61 National City branches inWestern Pennsylvania. AlthoughFirst Niagara Bank ultimately bought 57 of the branches, Cleveland-basedKeyBank was one of the banks that was considering buying the branches and expanding into Pittsburgh; KeyBank would later acquire First Niagara outright.
Republic Steel, which was based in Cleveland, was the company that suggested to the Steelers that the team use theSteelmark logo on its helmets in 1962. The logo later became the Steelers primary trademark, and is arguably better known with the logo than the steel industry itself.
The teams have also had various prominent players and coaches with roots in the other team. For instance, former Steelers head coachChuck Noll is from Cleveland and playedlinebacker for the Browns. His successor as head coach,Bill Cowher, also played linebacker and special teams for the Browns, and was an assistant coach for the Browns from 1985 to 1988. Cowher was born and raised inCrafton, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Former Browns head coachMarty Schottenheimer is a native of Pittsburgh area suburbCanonsburg, along with his brotherKurt Schottenheimer, who was the Browns special teams coach from 1987 to 1988. Another Browns head coach,Bud Carson also had as his hometown a northern suburb of Pittsburgh and was a longtime Steelers coordinator under Chuck Noll.
Steelers Hall of FamerJack Lambert is a native Ohioan and attendedKent State University, as didAkron, Ohio nativeJames Harrison. Steelers quarterbackBen Roethlisberger hails fromFindlay, Ohio. Former punterChris Gardocki played for three years for the Steelers, including theSuper Bowl XL championship team, after playing five seasons with the Browns from 1999 to 2003. Former SteelersOffensive coordinatorBruce Arians held the same position with the Browns from 2001 to 2003.
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The Browns and Steelers first met in 1950, the Browns' first NFL season after dominating theAll-America Football Conference. The Browns continued their dominance in the NFL as they appeared in six straight NFL Championship games from 1950 to 1955, winning the NFL title in 1950, 1954, and 1955. During that time the Steelers were among the NFL's worst teams.
The Browns won the first meeting on October 7,1950, 30–17 as they forced six Steelers turnovers. Later that season in Cleveland, the Browns won in a blowout, 45–7. The Browns would win the first eight meetings before the Steelers would finally beat their rivals in1954. The Steelers won 55–27 in a game in which Ray Matthews had 150 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
The Browns continued their dominance throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, marked by several strong rushing performances by Browns Hall of Fame running backJim Brown. The Browns would hold a 31–9 series advantage through the first two decades of the rivalry.
After theNFL merged with the former American Football League (AFL) in 1970, the Browns and Steelers were placed in the Central division of the newly formedAmerican Football Conference (AFC). The Browns and Steelers, along with theBaltimore Colts were placed in the AFC with the former members of the AFL to allow each conference to have the same number of teams. The NFL tried to move the Steelers to the new conference, but then-Steelers ownerArt Rooney initially refused. However, Rooney reconsidered after then-Browns ownerArt Modell volunteered the Browns to shift to the AFC, partly because the NFL had offered $3 million as an incentive to move but also because of the potential for anintrastate rivalry with the AFL'sCincinnati Bengals. The financial boost combined with the prospect of losing his most lucrative division rival quickly persuaded Rooney to join Modell in the AFC in order to continue their own rivalry, although the team did lose its in-staterivalry with thePhiladelphia Eagles as a result.
In the 1970s the Steelers began to even the playing field with the Browns, led by head coachChuck Noll, a Cleveland native and former Brownslinebacker. By then, the rivalry between the two clubs was more hostile and personal, as evident in the 1976 matchup atCleveland Municipal Stadium, whenJoe "Turkey" Jones tackledTerry Bradshaw with a pile-driving sack. Bradshaw suffered a neck injury from the play, and the footage of the sack has since become immortalized inNFL Films as part of the rivalry.
The Steelers openedThree Rivers Stadium in 1970 and won their first sixteen meetings with the Browns at that venue. During the 1970s, the teams each won five of the ten meetings in Cleveland. The Steelers ended the 1970s winning seven straight meetings and capped the decade by winning Super BowlsXIII andXIV to go along with their Super Bowl wins earlier in the decade (IX andX).
The teams exchanged victories throughout the 1980s. In the first meeting of the decade, the Browns, led by quarterbackBrian Sipe, overcame a 12-point deficit to stun the Steelers 27–26. The Steelers would defeat the Browns later that year in another close game. The 1980 Browns, nicknamed the "Kardiac Kids", would make the playoffs that year for the first time since 1972 after Pittsburgh dominated the AFC Central with four Super Bowl wins in the late 1970s.[6]
The Browns ended a 16-game losing streak at Three Rivers Stadium with a 27–24 victory in 1986. This was the first of four straight Browns wins in Pittsburgh from 1986 to 1989. In the 1989 season opener, the Browns defeated the Steelers 51–0 in Pittsburgh. This is the largest margin of victory in the rivalry and the worst loss in Steelers franchise history.
While the two exchanged victories in the '70s and '80s, by the 1990s the Steelers became the dominant team in the rivalry. Since the Browns' last series sweep in1988, the Steelers achieved an overwhelming 39–11 mark against the Browns, enough that in 2007, the Steelers took over the lead in the all-time series (which they currently lead at 82–64–1) for the first time. This included six straight wins from 1993 to 1995 that featured a 29–9 win in the1994 divisional playoff game, the first playoff meeting between the two rivals. During most of this time,Bill Cowher was head coach of the Steelers. Cowher, a native of the Pittsburgh suburb ofCrafton, also played linebacker for the Browns (though unlike Noll, Cowher mostly playedspecial teams), and also served as an assistant in Cleveland underMarty Schottenheimer, himself another Pittsburgh area native.
After the 1995 season, the rivalry took a brief hiatus due to theBrowns relocation to Baltimore. When the league was voting on the Browns relocation, Steelers ownerDan Rooney was one of only two owners to vote against the move.[7] In tribute of Cleveland losing the Browns, Steelers fans wore orange arm bands to the final game atThree Rivers Stadium as a sign of mutual respect and sorrow for losing a great rivalry.[8] While Browns fans still consider the Steelers as their main rival, most Steelers fans consider theirrivalry with theBaltimore Ravens thespiritual successor to this rivalry due to Art Modell moving the franchise toBaltimore and renaming them "Ravens". The consistently poor Browns' teams since their expansion in 1999, along with the one-sidedness of the rivalry since then is also a factor in the rivalry having diminished in the views of football fans.
The name "Browns" returned to the NFL in1999 attached to a new expansion team. They played their first game against the Steelers at the newCleveland Browns Stadium. The Steelers dominated the game 43–0 in a game in which the new Browns could only gain two first downs. However, in the return fixture in Pittsburgh later that season, the new Browns would defeat the Steelers 16–15 on a last-second Phil Dawson field goal.
The Browns and Steelers would again split the series in 2000, with each team winning in their home stadium.
The two teams would meet in a2002 wild card playoff game. Browns starting quarterbackTim Couch, however, was ruled out due to a broken leg he suffered in their regular season finale. As a result, backup QBKelly Holcomb started. The Browns built a 24–7 lead in the third quarter, but the Steelers came back to win 36–33. In 2003, the Browns would win their first game atHeinz Field, defeating the Steelers 33–13. This was the Browns’ only win at Heinz Field until the 2020 playoffs.
The Steelers drafted QBBen Roethlisberger, a native ofFindlay, Ohio, in the first round of the2004 NFL draft. Roethlisberger became the Steelers' starting quarterback in his rookie year and led the Steelers to three Super Bowl appearances, including wins in Super BowlsXL andXLIII. During Roethlisberger's tenure, the Steelers amassed a 29–6–1 record against the Browns including a 17–1 mark at home; at one point, Roethlisberger ironically held the record as the winningest quarterback at Cleveland Browns Stadium history despite having never suited up for the Browns.[9] The Steelers made 11 playoff appearances including three trips to the Super Bowl and two Super Bowl titles, while the Browns only made one playoff appearance in this stretch.
In Week 11 of 2006, the Steelers managed to tie the series at 55 games apiece between them and the Browns. They stunned the Browns 24-20 after Browns QB Charlie Frye's Hail Mary fell incomplete. The loss also left the Browns to finish last place in the division behind the Steelers.
In Week 1 of2007, the Steelers defeated the Browns 34–7 to take a 56–55 lead in the overall series. This was the first time the Steelers led the series and the Steelers have not given the lead up since. Later that season, the Steelers came back from down 21–6 to win 31–28. The two teams finished the season at 10–6, tied atop the AFC North. The Steelers won the head-to-head tiebreaker, while the Browns failed to earn a wild card spot after losing a tiebreaker to theTennessee Titans.
On December 10,2009, the Browns defeated the Steelers 13–6, ending a 12-game winning streak for the Steelers. This game is believed to be the coldest game in the history of the rivalry with a wind chill around −10 °F (−23 °C).[10]
Roethlisberger continued his dominance of the Browns in the 2010s, going 12–1–1 against them in the decade. However, the majority of the games have been close and come down to the final minutes or one final play.
In Week 5 of the 2014 season, the 2–2 Browns routed the 3–2 Steelers in a 31–10 victory in Cleveland after suffering a narrow 30–27 loss to Pittsburgh in the season opener. The Steelers scored early with a field goal and kept the Browns scoreless in the first quarter. The Browns would dominate from the second quarter onward, however, and this win would propel the Browns to an eventual 6–3 record atop the AFC North. However, injuries and rookie QBJohnny Manziel's poor play would doom the Browns’ season, where they would finish with a 7–9 record while the Steelers won the division. The Browns' struggles continued and the team reached rock bottom in2016 and2017, as they went 1–31 in those two seasons combined.
On September 9,2018, the teams played to a 21–21 tie. This marked the first and only tie game in the history of the rivalry.[11][12] The game saw the Steelers jump to a 21–7 lead, but the Browns mounted two successful drives to tie the game at 21–21 and send it to overtime. The Steelers committed 6 turnovers against a strong Browns defense, and Browns DE Myles Garrett was able to sack Roethlisberger three times in their first meeting. Going into overtime, Steelers kickerChris Boswell missed a potential game-winning field goal. On a subsequent drive after a Browns 3-and-out, Roethlisberger had his 5th turnover of the game, a fumble recovered by Browns linebackerJoe Schobert. A field goal try by the Browns in the last seconds of overtime was blocked, resulting in the tie. The tie would come back to hurt the Steelers as they would finish 9–6–1, a half game behind theBaltimore Ravens for the AFC North title (had the Steelers won this game, they would have finished 10–6, tied with the Ravens, and would have won the tiebreaker). The Steelers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013.[13]
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On November 14, 2019, Browns quarterbackBaker Mayfield notched his first win over the Steelers with a 21–7 victory, the Browns’ first win in the series since 2014. However, in the final seconds of the game,a brawl broke out between the two teams. With eight seconds remaining in the game, Browns DEMyles Garrett tackled Steelers QBMason Rudolph after the latter completed a screen pass to RBTrey Edmunds. Rudolph had choice words for Garrett and unsuccessfully tried to pull Garrett's helmet off. Garrett then ripped off Rudolph's helmet and used it to hit Rudolph in the head while being restrained by Steelers CMaurkice Pouncey and Steelers GDavid DeCastro. Pouncey then jumped into the brawl by punching and kicking Garrett in the head several times. Browns DTLarry Ogunjobi was also involved in the scuffle by pushing Rudolph to the ground. Garrett, Ogunjobi, and Pouncey were ejected from the game. Following the game, Garrett was suspended for 6 games while Pouncey and Ogunjobi received 2-game and 1-game suspensions, respectively. Garrett's suspension was the longest in NFL history for a single on-field transgression.[14] On December 1, the teams met in Pittsburgh, in a game in which the winner would remain in the thick of the AFC wild card race and the loser would fall further behind. The Steelers, who had benched Rudolph in favor of third stringDevlin Hodges, won 20–13 to improve to 7–5 while the Browns fell to 5–7, two games out of a playoff spot.[15]
On January 3, 2021, the Browns entered Week 17 at home and would clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Steelers. The Steelers rested a few of their starters, with Rudolph starting as quarterback. The Browns won 24–22 despite a late Steelers rally; the Browns stopped a Pittsburgh two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game. The win meant that the 11–5 Browns clinched the 6-seed and faced the Steelers in Pittsburgh for a rematch in theWild Card Round. Prior to the playoff game, Steelers wide receiverJuJu Smith-Schuster was quoted as saying "The Browns is [sic] the Browns," implying they were the "same old Browns" and calling them "nameless grey faces." Several Cleveland players took Smith-Schuster's comments personally.[16] Despite losing several coaches, including head coachKevin Stefanski due toCOVID-19, the Browns forced five Steelers turnovers, led 28–0 in the first quarter, and won 48–37 to advance to the divisional round. This was the Browns' first win atHeinz Field since 2003 and their first ever playoff win against the Steelers.[17]
The following season would be the last for quarterbackBen Roethlisberger as the Steelers would sweep the Browns, winning both games by a combined score of 41–24. The first victory was a 15–10 win in Cleveland on October 31st, and the second was a 26–14 victory on January 3rd at Heinz Field. After finishing with a disappointing 8–9 record to conclude the 2021 season, the Browns would trade quarterbackBaker Mayfield to theCarolina Panthers for a conditional draft pick.
| Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Season-by-Season Results[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1950s (Browns, 16–4)
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1960s (Browns, 15–5)
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1970s (Steelers, 15–5)
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1980s (Browns, 12–8)
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1990s (Steelers, 10–5)
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2000s (Steelers, 18–3)
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2010s (Steelers, 16–3–1)
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2020s (Steelers, 7–5)
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Summary of Results
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