HEY, BROWNS, JUST WIN ON SUNDAY

By STEVE KING

An open letter to the Browns:

You’re 4-1 and have won four in a row. That’s great. Congratulations on your fast start, something the Browns have never done to any great extent in the expansion era.

But if you want to be taken seriously — real seriously, as in being legitimately worthy of respect among your NFL brethren, and being a legitimate contender for the playoffs and perhaps even something beyond that — then you have to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Heinz Field. You’ve lost 16 in a row there, and have won once, way back in 2003, since the place opened in 2001. Some of the players in Sunday’s game were still in diapers then. Yeah, that’s how long it’s been.

It doesn’t matter you much beat the Steelers by, whether it’s 3-2, 50-49 or 51-0, like it was in 1989. It doesn’t matter how you do it — by running the ball down their throat, passing them silly. dominating them defensively, dazzling them on special teams, or a little or all of these. It doesn’t matter one bit. Style points are of no concern whatsoever

Just win.

 Yes, it’s that simple. It always is.

You’ve heard all the stories about Heinz Field being a house of horrors for the Browns, and they are all true. But it was for other Browns teams and not this one — your Browns team.

This team has not played the Steelers in Pittsburgh yet this season. You get that chance on Sunday. Likely, it will be your only opportunity until 2021 — unless, of course, you should somehow meet the Steelers there in the playoffs. That would be nice, and a big step in that direction– the right direction for your team, this team — would be to beat them on Sunday.

It won’t be easy. It will be a dog fight. The Steelers defend their home turf as well as anyone, and have done so for years. They are also very good, which they have been mostly since way back in 1972, when they broke a 39-year drought and finally made the playoffs for the first time in their history.

But nothing in the NFL is easy. These teams are too good — the players are too good — to be defeated with the drop of a hat.

So while everyone thinks that the road to the AFC North title runs through Baltimore — and I get that because the Ravens are the two-time defending division champions and might end up making it a third this year — the road for the Cleveland Browns goes through Pittsburgh. The Browns in the past have beaten the Ravens in Baltimore, but they have not beaten the Steelers in Pittsburgh in forever.

You need to get the monkey off the organization’s back. The Steelers will come out and punch you right in the mouth, right away. You need to punch back. Don’t back down. And when you connect, keep punching.

You need to let them know that you mean business. Once you do, half the battle will be over.

You guys have grown this past month. The close games did that. Being able to survive them, as you have done by making big plays down the stretch to hold onto the leads and win the games, are how young teams like yours learn to win and develop and mature.

So, you have all the ingredients to be successful on Sunday. Now you just need to go do it.

And remember, losing won’t kill your season — far from it, in fact — but winning would be such a boost — such a quantum leap forward — for all of you individually and the team as a whole.

Good luck.