SCOUTING THE BROWNS
Last meeting
Steelers beat Browns, 23-9, on Oct. 12, 2025, in Pittsburgh
Key matchup
Browns DE Myles Garrett vs. Steelers LT Dylan Cook
Garrett needs one sack to break the NFL single-season record — one shared by the Steelers’ T.J. Watt — and Cook is making his third career start. Cook had a sterling starting debut against the Miami Dolphins, but while matched up against one of the league’s elite pass rushers last week (the Detroit Lions’ Adian Hutchinson) he was charged (by Pro Football Focus) with four pressures and a sack allowed.
Key injuries
The Steelers will be without two players who had become prominent members of their secondary — cornerbacks Brandin Echols (groin) and James Pierre (calf). Starting left guard Isaac Seumalo will mis a second straight game because of a triceps injury, receiver Calvin Austin III will not play because of a hamstring injury and Pro Bowl outside linebacker T.J. Watt remains out because of a partially collapsed lung.
Six Browns players are listed as questionable on the league-mandated injury report, including starters at right guard (Wyatt Teller, calf), running back (Dylan Sampson, hand) and tight end (Harold Fannin, groin). A rookie, Sampson is in line to make his second career start after the season-ending injury to Quinshon Judkins last week. Fannin told reporters Friday that he expected to play Sunday.
Series record
Steelers lead 83-64-1
Series notes
The Steelers have won just one of their past seven games in Cleveland (1-5-1). They are 16-9-1 at the venue that is now called Huntington Bank Field, which opened in 1999 and is scheduled for replacement as the Browns develop plans for a new home stadium. … Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is 28-8-1 during the regular season against the Browns. Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski is 4-7 against the Steelers. … The Steelers have won the past two meetings (including a December 2024 game at Acrisure Stadium) and are searching for their first three-game winning streak in the series since claiming six consecutive between 2015-17. … The teams have met three times in the playoffs (all in Pittsburgh), with the Steelers claiming wins during the 1994 and 2002 postseasons but losing in the 2020 playoffs. … The Browns are starting Shedeur Sanders at quarterback, marking the 11th time since December 2005 that the Steelers are facing a Cleveland rookie quarterback. The Steelers have won eight of the previous 10 such occasions. … The Steelers are assured of finishing ahead of the Browns in the AFC North (formerly AFC Central) standings for the 32nd time over the past 33 seasons Cleveland has played. … Cleveland has yet to win an intra-division game this season. The most recent time the Browns went winless in AFC North play was the season they became one of only two teams in NFL history to finish a season 0-16.
Notable
The Browns rank second in the NFL in total defense (277.8 yards per game allowed) and first in pass defense (164.1 yards/game). … The Steelers, however, have allowed fewer points. They rank 17th at 23.3 allowed per game. The Browns are 20th at 23.7. … Cleveland hasn’t allowed a quarterback to pass 300 or more yards in 43 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NFL. The most recent NFL defense to have a longer streak is the Indianapolis Colts of 2005-08, who went 52 straight games without allowing a 300-yard passer. … Garrett has 13 sacks in 15 career games against the Steelers but has six in his past four games against the Steelers and five in his past two home games against them. … Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger leads all NFL rookies in tackles with 137 and in tackles for loss with 11. He ranks seventh in the league overall in tackles. … With a win Sunday, the Steelers (9-6) would tie the Dallas Cowboys for the most 10-win seasons since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger (29). It would be the Steelers’ third 10-win season in a row and 12th among Tomlin’s 19 seasons as coach.
Fantasy tip
A rookie third-round pick from Bowling Green, Fannin has accumulated the sixth-most fantasy points among all tight ends this season (standard scoring) by way of ranking sixth (or tied for sixth) among all tight ends in receptions (70), receiving yards (701) and touchdowns (seven). Over the past four weeks, he has the fourth-most fantasy points among tight ends.