The Cleveland Browns (5-2) travel to face the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET in a pivotal AFC North matchup broadcast on CBS. The game carries significant historical weight: Cleveland has lost 22 consecutive regular-season road games in Pittsburgh, one short of the NFL record held by the 1992-2014 Green Bay Packers against the Detroit Lions. Pittsburgh has covered the spread in each of the last eight meetings.
Cleveland is also chasing its first regular-season sweep of the Steelers since the 1970 merger, a 34-season drought that stands as the longest in any NFL divisional rivalry. The Browns won the Week 1 encounter 27-24 as 2.5-point underdogs, a victory that sparked a surprising campaign under first-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who is the +425 second favorite for NFL Coach of the Year.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson has been central to Cleveland's success, engineering game-winning drives in the final four minutes of each of the team's five victories — a feat achieved only by Troy Aikman (1990) and Matthew Stafford (2016) since 1970. Watson has thrown four touchdowns and zero interceptions in the final two minutes of halves this season. Meanwhile, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has thrown 12 touchdown passes over Weeks 3-7, tied for the NFL lead, and Pittsburgh has averaged 26.0 points per game in that span after scoring just 11.5 in the first two weeks.
Weather forecasts call for cloudy conditions early with partial sunshine later, a high of 69°F, and light winds. Betting markets show the Steelers as favorites, with a same-game parlay featuring Pittsburgh on the money line and the under 44.5 points priced at +104. The SportsLine Projection Model predicts a 27-17 Steelers victory, which would extend Pittsburgh's home divisional cover streak to 12 games, tied for the second-longest in league history.
