Steelers facing ultimate trap game in Cleveland

After playing zero games against AFC North division opponents in the first half of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in the middle of a four-game stretch in which they play all divisional games.

The first of those games was this past Sunday, when they beat the Baltimore Ravens, 18-16, to extend their lead in the division.

It continues on Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns.

The Steelers, winners of five games in a row and with an 8-2 record, are a field-goal road favorite over the 2-8 Browns, whose season has been one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL. On paper, it would seem to be a game the Steelers should win.

It is not going to be that easy. Not only because there are never any "should" games in the NFL, but because this is the ultimate trap game for the Steelers to be playing in.

Let's count the reasons.

The Steelers are coming off an extremely physical, emotional game against the Ravens on Sunday. Those games typically take a lot out of them. Going back to the start of the 2016 season, the Steelers are only 6-8 in games the week after playing the Ravens. (They also had one Ravens game that was the final game of the regular season when they did not make the playoffs and another when a Ravens game was followed by a bye week.)

They are following a Ravens game by playing a short week, on the road, at another divisional rival. Road games on short weeks are always a challenge, and the Steelers have played several Thursday-night road games in Cleveland over the years, losing such games in 2022, 2019 (the infamous Myles Garrett-Mason Rudolph helmet game) and 2009. It has not treated them kindly. 

As disappointing as the Browns' season has been, they still have some players that could completely change a game, especially Garrett, who gets to go up against a weak Steelers offensive line and a quarterback in Russell Wilson who likes to hold onto the ball and tends to take too many sacks. 

The Steelers also have another major divisional game looming the next week at the Cincinnati Bengals. Sandwiching a game against a 2-8 team in between Ravens and Bengals games is challenging.

It is a big opportunity for the Steelers to keep rolling, improve their record to 9-2 and continue their pursuit for a surprising AFC North Division championship. They might win. But it would not be a surprise if they did not, despite the records of both teams.