CAN THE BROWNS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A GREAT SITUATION?

By STEVE KING

In a number of ways, the Browns have an excellent opportunity on Sunday when they play the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.

If they win, then they will:

Advertisement: Golf anybody?

*Have two straight victories over Pittsburgh for the first time in 20 years.

*Sweep the season series with Pittsburgh for the first time in 31 years.

*Beat Pittsburgh on the road for the first time in 16 years.

Those accomplishments would be nice – that’s all well and good – but there are two much more important things that would come as a result of a win:

*The Browns would tie Pittsburgh for second place in the AFC North at 6-6 and overtake the Steelers in the wild-card playoff hunt by virtue of having the advantage in the first tie-breaker, head-to-head meetings, with the season series sweep.

*And, in a long-form view, at least in terms of heading into next season, the Browns would flip the rivalry squarely into their favor. No longer would Pittsburgh look upon the Browns as being their guaranteed-win homecoming-like opponent. No longer would the Browns view Heinz Field as a house of horrors. This, then, would be a seminal moment for the Browns, including Freddie Kitchens in terms of proving his worth as the right head coach to take them forward.

It’s all there – right there — waiting for the Browns. It’s staring them in the face.

As I’ve already written over the last several days, the Browns should win. With three straight victories, they are red-hot. They are playing much better than the Steelers. They beat them decisively, 21-7, two weeks ago and are going up against a struggling, beat-up offense that has a third-stringer as its quarterback. They also proved in that first meeting that they can make big plays consistently against a pretty good Pittsburgh defense that has led the way for the team overall in its turnaround following a 1-4 start.

So, there are no excuses – absolutely none, and I would refuse to listen to any – if the Browns lose and fail to take advantage of this great situation.