Prove it?
Yes, the Browns did that — they proved they are legitimate, at least to this early point of the season — after they rallied from a 10-point first-quarter deficit and walked off the Baltimore Ravens 13-10 last Sunday at Huntington Bank Field on Andre Szmyt’s second-chance 37–yard field goal on an untimed play with an expired clock.
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What an accomplishment! No one — not even the Browns’ biggest doubters, and there are still plenty of them at this juncture, of that you can be sure — can downplay that.
But as impressive as that is — and it is, as pointed out, very much so — the much bigger challenge comes two Sundays from now, on Nov. 1, when the Browns go to Pittsburgh, a place at which they’ve won only a handful of times since 1970, and face the Steelers, who at 4-2 share first place with Cleveland and Baltimore, a half-game ahead of the 3-2 Cincinnati Bengals, in the AFC North.
The temperature of the air goes way up when the Browns and Steelers play, even if were to be in a city park somewhere. Indeed, this is a heated rivalry that goes back 76 years, long before many of you reading this were even born. Your grandparents have told you all about it — all those stories.
But when you add to it the possibility that the division lead may well also be at stake, well, now, that’s like pouring gasoline onto the deal and lighting it.
And did we mention that the Browns walked off the Steelers at Cleveland 27-24 on a Szmyt field goal of 56 yards as time expired? That will help keep things red-hot, too.
This, then, will be a lot of fun, and, beginning next Monday, we’ll be talking about it each day in some way, shape or form heading into kickoff.
A win in Pittsburgh would really prove the Browns’ worth.
Before that, though, the Browns will go on the road this Sunday to face another longtine foe, the former Houston Oilers, now going by the name of the Tennessee Titans. This matchup also brings with it a lot of interesting stories from a lot of different angles.
Stay tuned, for the long haul.
Steve King
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