Cleveland and Pittsburgh own the AFC’s longest rivalry. Here are 5 memorable games from the series.
The Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers will renew their rivalry with a pair of matchups in the 2025 NFL season.
Cleveland will travel to Pittsburgh in Week 6, and then host the Steelers in Week 17 in what is the AFC’s longest-running series.
Related: Browns 2025 Schedule Primer: Weeks 6 & 17, Pittsburgh Steelers
It is a series that has seen both teams dominate at times, with the Browns going 32-9 from 1950 to 1969, while the Steelers held the edge from 1999 through 2019. Things have evened out in recent years as the Browns are 6-7 against the Steelers since 2019.
Let’s take a look at five memorable games between the two teams in a series that dates back to 1950.
November 19, 1972: Browns 26, Steelers 24
The Browns won in dramatic fashion to move into a first-place tie with the Steelers in the AFC Central Division and send more than 80,000 fans home happy.
Cleveland jumped out to a 20-3 lead in the second quarter after Mike Phipps hit Frank Pitts with a 17-yard touchdown pass. But Pittsburgh scored a touchdown before halftime and slowly worked its way back into the game. The Steelers took a 24-23 lead in the fourth quarter after Franco Harris ripped off a 75-yard touchdown run, and the situation looked bleak after Don Cockroft missed a field goal on the ensuing possession.
But Cleveland’s defense forced the Steelers to punt, and Phipps drove the Browns into field-goal range. This time, Cockroft’s 26-yard field goal was true, and Cleveland pulled out the victory in a game that marked the final 100-yard rushing day of Leroy Kelly’s Hall-of-Fame career.
October 26, 1980: Browns 27, Steelers 26
Cleveland used a second-half rally to defeat Pittsburgh for the first time in four years behind Brian Sipe’s 349 passing yards and four touchdown passes.
The Steelers jumped out to a 10-0 lead and pushed the margin to 12 points heading into the fourth quarter after a two-yard touchdown run by Sidney Thornton. But the Browns rallied back on a pair of Sipe touchdown passes, the first a seven-yard toss to Greg Pruitt, and then an 18-yarder to Ozzie Newsome that gave Cleveland its first lead of the game with just a little more than five minutes remaining.
Cleveland’s defense took over from there and sealed the win when Ron Bolton intercepted a Cliff Stoudt pass inside the two-minute warning. Dave Logan paced the Browns with eight receptions for 131 yards, while Pruitt added 71 receiving yards and a pair of touchdown receptions.
October 5, 1986: Browns 27, Steelers 24
Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium opened in 1970, and for 16 consecutive years, the Browns would find a way to lose when they faced the Steelers in Pittsburgh. That all changed on this day as the Browns blew an early 10-point lead to rally back and finally break the Three Rivers Jinx.
The afternoon’s first big play came in the second quarter when Gerald McNeil returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, Cleveland’s first touchdown return in 12 years. Pittsburgh retook the lead in the third quarter, but the Browns cut it to one heading into the fourth quarter thanks to a 39-yard field goal from Matt Bahr.
Earnest Byner’s four-yard touchdown run gave the Browns a three-point lead in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland looked to seal the win in the final minutes, but Bahr’s second missed field goal of the day gave the Steelers one last chance. But Pittsburgh turned the ball over, and the Browns ran out the clock to win the game.
The win started the Browns on a streak that would see them win nine of their next 11 games on their way to a playoff berth.
January 5, 2003: Steelers 36, Browns 33
One of the most painful games in franchise history took place in the AFC playoffs as the Browns could not contain Pittsburgh quarterback Tommy Maddox in blowing a 17-point second-half lead to lose to the Steelers.
Kelly Holcomb, starting in place of the injured Tim Couch, had arguably the greatest day of his career in passing for 429 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair to Dennis Northcutt, the second of which gave Cleveland a 24-7 lead early in the third quarter.
Holcomb had the Browns driving on their next possession but was intercepted, which the Steelers converted into a touchdown. Cleveland’s offense came right back, however, and looked to have sealed the game when Holcomb hit André Davis with a 22-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 12 points with a little more than 10 minutes remaining.
The margin was still at 12 points with 5:30 left in the game, but Maddox hit Hines Ward with a five-yard touchdown pass with a little more than three minutes left. Cleveland’s offense tried to run out the clock, but Northcutt dropped a third-down pass that would have likely sealed the game. The Browns then punted, the Steelers took the lead with 54 seconds remaining, and the upset bid died when time expired with Cleveland on Pittsburgh’s 39-yard line.
January 10, 2021: Browns 48, Steelers 37
It took 18 years, but the Browns finally got their playoff revenge in a thorough beating of the Steelers in an AFC Wild Card playoff game.
Cleveland opened the scoring on the first offensive play of the game when Karl Joseph recovered a fumble in the end zone. A 40-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield to Jarvis Landry and a pair of Kareem Hunt touchdown runs pushed Cleveland’s lead to 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Steelers mounted a small rally in the second quarter, but a seven-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Austin Hooper had the Browns leading by 25 points at halftime.
After the Steelers closed the gap to 12 points heading into the fourth quarter, Nick Chubb’s 40-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown put the Browns in front, 42-23. The Steelers added a pair of meaningless touchdown receptions by Chase Claypool in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as the Browns celebrated their first road playoff win since 1969.
Cleveland’s defense forced five turnovers, including four interceptions of Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, while Mayfield threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns.
What is your most memorable game between the Browns and Steelers? Have your say in the comments.