The Cleveland Browns‘ rematch against the Pittsburgh Steelers should be a drama-filled affair.
The Browns and Steelers’ bitter rivalry always leads to rowdy, intense games. The two teams try to bully each other for the entire sixty minutes. The hate is palpable in the stadium, and at home, you can hear the pads crack as each team attempts to enforce its will. In today’s rematch, the two teams have a lot more to play for than hate. The Steelers are playing for the AFC North title, which they can clinch with a win. Future Hall of Famer Myles Garrett is playing for the history books. Current Browns quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, is playing for his job. It’ll also be the first match-up since Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin openly mocked Browns’ general manager Andrew Berry for trading Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals. Flacco led the Bengals to a victory over the Steelers, and never won another game in the striped orange helmet. There’s a lot to look forward to this afternoon.
The Steelers beat the Browns 23-9 in their week six matchup. The Browns are preparing for revenge. Former Browns quarterback and current Ravens starter Tyler “Snoop” Huntley has asked Sanders to win to keep the Ravens’ playoff hopes alive. Myles Garrett is hoping to get one sack to break T.J. Watt’s sack record. Aaron Rodgers, who will enter Canton much sooner than Garrett, doesn’t want a record-breaking sack to be against him. Rodgers didn’t let Garrett touch him in the first game. He relied on the quick game, so Garrett would have no opportunity to touch him. Rodgers’ career has always echoed Brett Favre, who famously gave himself up on Michael Strahan’s record-breaking twenty-second-and-a-half sack.
Rodgers will look to break the cycle today. The Browns’ defense must make Rodgers hold onto the ball by eliminating quick throws. The Browns’ coaching staff has a lot to prove to the fans and themselves after Tomlin mocked them. The game against the Steelers should be a sloppy fist-fight as everyone has something to prove.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns and Steelers have a lot to prove in their NFL Week 17 rematch
