The Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers will meet again when the two AFC North rivals kick off their 2018 NFL seasons on Sunday, September 9th, 2018 at 1:00 PM ET. The contest will be aired on CBS. With Cleveland winning just one game over the last two seasons, the Steelers have dominated this series as of late. In the last ten games between both parties, the Steelers have won them all. However, Cleveland has given Pittsburgh a lot of trouble recently as the last three games by the two teams have been settled by a margin of no more than four points. Cleveland is 2-0-1 ATS in the previous three fixtures between the two outfits.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns Overview
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers enter on the heels of yet another NFL season where it found itself in the post-season by way of an AFC North title. Pittsburgh made it as far as the Divisional Round before the Jacksonville Jaguars came to town and knocked off the Steelers at home by a score of 45-42. There are a lot of questions surrounding this football team heading into the opener. Most notably, how will the holdout of running back LeVeon Bell affect this team in the day-to-day? Additionally, with a porous secondary, the question is not whether Pittsburgh’s offense can score but can its defense retain leads.
Cleveland Browns
The Browns have been nothing short of a dumpster fire in the last two seasons. However, it is quite evident that the Dawg Pound is in the midst of a culture change under hybrid Head Coach / General Manager Hue Jackson. In the off-season, the Brownies made some significant acquisitions in the free agency period, most notably wide receiver Jarvis Landry who came to Cleveland by virtue of a trade with the Miami Dolphins. The Browns also made the most of their 2018 NFL draft, selecting a true franchise quarterback for the future in number-one pick Baker Mayfield; a quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma in his senior season.
Reasons To Back Cleveland
The Browns are a hungry team. Let alone just to have a winning season, the Browns are eager to begin their revival with a win over the big kid in the yard. The Browns as mentioned have come close in recent years but have never been able to get the one play they needed to get the W. However, with Jarvis Landry and gifted athlete Josh Gordon lining up split-wide along with Carlos Hyde and Nick Chubb in the backfield, seasoned veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor will have some weapons to utilize. Taylor, of course, was the man behind the fabled ending of Buffalo’s playoff drought in 2017. We get this potentially potent team with points, we have to like that prospect.
Reasons To Avoid Pittsburgh
Outside of the whole LeVeon Bell saga, Pittsburgh by proxy of its dominance in this series is bound to inflict inflated numbers on those that back them in this spot. We have cited previously that teams like Cleveland often bode well against the spread because they often take back friendlier prices since no one wants a part of them. Despite all the promise that surrounds Cleveland this season and its future, Pittsburgh is still a blue-chip selection by the consensus. However, there is a great chance they are overvalued at this point.
