There are few certainties in life. But death, taxes and the home team winning as it pertains to the Pittsburgh Steelers–Cleveland Browns rivalry are among them.
Such was the case Thursday, Oct. 1, when the Browns opened Week 4 of the 2026 NFL season by defeating the Steelers in what belatedly developed into a 27-24 thriller at Huntington Bank Field, breaking what had been a four-way logjam of 2-1 AFC North teams. Cleveland QB Deshaun Watson had another solid performance while guiding his team to its third consecutive victory. Pittsburgh counterpart Aaron Rodgers largely had a far more frustrating evening, venting frustration with teammates and coach Mike McCarthy over the course of the evening, in what is expected to be the four-time league MVP’s final Thursday night game.
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Still even as the Browns continue winning their weekly battles, are they losing as it pertains to the long game? Let’s examine Thursday’s winners and losers:
WINNERS
Cleveland Browns
Now 3-1, they’ve surprisingly taken over sole possession of first place of the AFC North … for the time being anyway. But who saw this coming? Rookie head coach. Reviled starting quarterback (Watson). Beloved backup quarterback (Shedeur Sanders). The face of the franchise for nearly a decade, two-time Defensive Player of the year Myles Garrett, now a Los Angeles Ram. Sure, maybe the Browns are beating middling-at-best competition in the early stages of their schedule. But doing that consistently can carry any team a long way, maybe even into the playoffs.
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Andre Szmyt
Cleveland’s kicker coolly hit the game-winning 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds to go, saving the day after Rodgers led an eight-play, 80-yard drive to tie the game on the previous possession. Szmyt has made all eight of his field-goal tries this season.
Corey Bojorquez
The Browns’ punter was also great, averaging 62.8 yards on four kicks, one an 81-yard bomb.
Steelers wide receivers
DK Metcalf and Roman Wilson have struggled to get on the same page with Rodgers of late, but both had impactful games Thursday. Wilson had three catches and scored the game’s first TD while matching his career high with 74 receiving yards. Metcalf had five catches for 115 yards, exceeding his season total (98) entering the game and was crucial figure on the game-tying drive that nearly forced overtime.
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Browns’ streaks
The Browns improved to 8-0 on Thursday nights. They’ve also now won five straight (and seven of eight) against the Steelers in Cleveland.
Jalen Ramsey
He’s probably a future Hall of Famer with little left to prove in his career. So pretty impressive that Pittsburgh’s veteran DB opted to play – especially given the lack of stakes in a Week 4 game – given he broke his wrist just four days previously in the Steelers’ defeat of the Cincinnati Bengals.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – OCTOBER 01: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns celebrates a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers dduring the second quarter of the game at Huntington Bank Field on October 01, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
LOSERS
Cleveland Browns
Alright, let’s play this out. Watson isn’t necessarily playing like a league MVP, or even a Pro Bowler, but he’s certainly doing enough to get his team into the win column. Next up on the schedule? Jets, Ravens, Titans, Steelers again, Saints and Texans. Meaning it’s completely conceivable Cleveland could be 7-3 going into its Week 11 bye. And that presumes Watson remains somewhere around his current level and retains the QB1 role. After that? Splitting the remainder of their games puts them at 10-7 and maybe into postseason … but we’re not willing to speculate they’d make much more noise if they get far. Yet if they do, that means they’ll be picking in the bottom 14 spots of the 2027 draft, in which the Browns have two picks (including the Rams’ selection). It’s been widely assumed they’d target another QB next spring. But if they keep having team success with Watson and don’t get an extended look at Sanders, Dillon Gabriel or rookie Taylen Green – what then, given Watson himself will be a free agent next year?
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Is there any multiverse where the Browns re-sign him given the latent friction between him and the fans and the generally disastrous nature of his tenure in Cleveland, on and off the field? Would they consider franchising him? Would they even have to given it’s hard to see other teams vying for Watson’s services? Would Clevelanders revolt anew? Or are they already going soft as the wins roll in, Watson definitely getting cheers Thursday that have long been withheld? And heck, if the Browns presumably didn’t want to spread out the $86.2 million dead money charge affixed to Watson over the 2027 and 2028 salary caps, he’d probably already be gone. Whatever the reasons were, the Browns opened with Watson under center rather than going with Sanders. But aside from going on a Super Bowl heater, Cleveland’s short-term gains with Watson seem very likely to ultimately perpetuate its long-term ineptitude, especially at a position where the franchise hasn’t had any stability since Bernie Kosar was guiding it to AFC championship games back in the 1980s.
Aaron Rodgers
So much yelling! But it was nearly a vintage prime-time performance for the 42-year-old, especially after Rodgers absorbed the wrath of Cleveland’s pass rush (five sacks, 10 hits). He opened the game by engineering a 17-play, 78-yard TD drive and nearly surmounted his own mid-game frustration with teammates and, apparently, coach Mike McCarthy to pass for 299 yards and three touchdowns − leading a masterful drive at the end of regulation, marching the Steelers 80 yards over eight plays before finding TE Pat Freiermuth on a 3-yard TD pass. Rodgers himself burrowed into the end zone for a game-tying two-point conversion.. But he was also picked off twice, including his final throw of the night. Too little, too late, etc., etc.
Jared Verse
The Garrett trade finally got done once the Rams relented and included the young pass rusher. But Verse has yet to notch his first sack as a Brown and needs to stop committing silly penalties.
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2025 first-round D-linemen
Both Browns DT Mason Graham (left knee) and Steelers DT Derrick Harmon (foot), Round 1 selections a year ago, failed to make it to halftime before being ruled out with injuries.
Joey Porter Jr. trade
On a night when CB Jamel Dean was injured, Ramsey was playing at well below 100%, and the defense was giving up big plays − like a 60-yard completion from Watson to Browns rookie WR Denzel Boston to set up the go-ahead TD in the second quarter − it sure looked like the Steelers could have used CB Joey Porter Jr., whom they traded to the Dallas Cowboys the night before. Welp.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Browns win battle with Steelers but are losing war with Deshaun Watson | Opinion
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