Matt's Stats: Week 4 at Browns

Series history

The Steelers and Browns have met 148 times dating to 1950. Of those matchups, only three have been in the postseason. Pittsburgh is 2-1 in the playoffs against the Browns. Overall, this series sits at 83-65-1 in Pittsburgh's favor. To begin this series, Cleveland started off with an eight-game winning streak, won 12 of the first 13 contests, and only had two losses out of the first 18 times these teams squared off. Starting in December 1962, the tides greatly turned in the Steelers' favor. The Browns won just four games between that point and October 1983. Even more extreme, starting in January 1994, Pittsburgh won 45 of the next 55 games with a tie thrown in during that time. Since 2007, the Steelers have outscored Cleveland by 289 points in these head-to-head matchups. This is the AFC's oldest rivalry. The Browns have won four straight games against the Steelers in Cleveland and are 6-1 at home over the last seven meetings. The Steelers are 0-4 in Cleveland on Thursday nights.

Matchup overview

• Cleveland is 2-1 under new head coach Todd Monken and 4-1 in the last five games after going 6-26 in the previous 32. The Browns have a seven-game winning streak on Thursday Night Football. No other team has a streak longer than three.

• The Steelers are 0-9 in divisional Thursday night games on the road. Aaron Rodgers has a 13-6 career record on Thursdays. Mike McCarthy is 17-8 and has won seven in a row.

• The AFC North is the only division without a team with a losing record.

• Rodgers is now tied with Ben Roethlisberger with 165 career wins in the regular season, fifth most since 1950 and seven wins behind Drew Brees. Last week was Rodgers' 88^th game with three or more touchdown passes, fourth-most all time.

• The Steelers are minus-7 in point differential. The Browns are minus-17.

• The Steelers are plus-2 in turnover differential. The Browns are minus-1. Pittsburgh has recovered three fumbles. The Browns have recovered zero. The Steelers' six takeaways are only behind Las Vegas and Carolina.

• The Steelers have run 24 more plays than their opponents. The Browns have run 25 fewer than their opponents. Cleveland runs just 55.7 plays per game, 28^th in the league. Steelers opponents are running 55.3, fourth fewest.

• The Browns are giving up 76.4 yards per game more than they are producing.

• Pittsburgh's average time of possession is 30:31 compared to 28:32 for Cleveland.

• Cleveland's opponents have accumulated 18 more first-downs than the Browns.

• The Browns are giving up a full yard (4.5) more per rush attempt than they are producing (3.5) and 32.6 more rushing yards per game.

• The Browns and Steelers are two of three teams (with Green Bay) that have yet to score a rushing touchdown.

• Pittsburgh is 12 for 37 on third-downs. Opponents are 12 for 36.

• The Steelers (32.4%) and Browns (30.6%) are 29^th and 30^th respectively in third-down offense.

• The Browns (37.5%) and Steelers (33.3%) are 29^th and 30^th respectively in red-zone offense.

• Cleveland was penalized 12 times for 84 yards in Week 3. The Browns have been penalized 12 times more than their opponents. Their 29 penalties are second most in the league.

When Pittsburgh has the ball

• The Steelers averaged 7.0 yards per play last week while the Browns allowed 4.9. For the season, Pittsburgh is at 4.8 and Cleveland's defense is at 5.4.

• Last week the Steelers broke a 69-game streak of not scoring more than 7 points in the first quarter.

• The Steelers now have four games in which they scored 30-plus points in the past two seasons. Three are against Cincinnati.

• The Steelers are throwing the ball on 64.7% of their snaps, only behind Green Bay, Carolina and Houston.

• The Steelers averaged 9.9 yards per play on first down against the Bengals. They now average 6.1 for the season, seventh best. The Steelers are throwing the ball on first downs 60% of the time, highest in the league.

• Last week was the Steelers' highest explosive play rate during the Rodgers era with the team.

• The Browns have been in their nickel package 85.9% of the time, the second highest rate. Even when playing against 12, 13 or 21 personnel, Cleveland has been in nickel at a 71.9% clip.

• No offense has used less motion this year (52.1%) than the Steelers.

• Of Rodgers' dropbacks last week, 18.9% were under center with play-action, his highest since Week 3 of last season.

• Panthers QB Bryce Young threw for 291 yards in Cleveland.

• Rodgers had a 3.19 average time to throw in Week 3. Going into that game, Rodgers averaged 2.73 in a Steelers uniform. He had 15 attempts of 10 or more yards, his most in a game with the Steelers. Rodgers is throwing 37.3% of his passes 10 or more yards downfield, his highest rate since 2011, and 16.7% of his passes travel 20 or more yards downfield, his highest rate since 2009. Rodgers is the only qualified quarterback in the league who averages more yards per attempt on throws under 10 air yards than on throws of 10 or more air yards.

• When targeting wide receivers, the Steelers are averaging 5.9 yards per attempt, lowest in the league.

• Pittsburgh has five pass-catchers between 92 and 114 receiving yards. Michael Pittman Jr. missed a game but is sixth with 74. The Steelers are tied for first in the NFL with four players with 10 or more receptions.

• Cleveland is being targeted on deep balls at a 14% clip, highest in the league.

• Last week DK Metcalf was on the field for 59 snaps compared to 45 for Pittman. Roman Wilson out-snapped Germie Bernard 24-17. Of Wilson's snaps, 22 were in the first half.

• Metcalf has a 100% route participation rate and a 22% target share. He has run 16% of his routes from the slot. Metcalf has been used in motion on 0.6% of his snaps, lowest among wide receivers with at least 100 snaps played.

• When targeting tight ends, the Steelers average 8.8 yards per attempt, fourth highest.

• Darnell Washington's four targets were his most this season against Cincinnati. Washington out-snapped Pat Freiermuth 47-37. For the season, Freiermuth has the edge 132-127 in snap counts.

• Washington is averaging 2.1 yards per route run, sixth best among tight ends with 40-plus routes run. Last week Washington ran a route on a season-high 58.3% of dropbacks.

• Freiermuth has reached 30-plus receiving yards in every game this season.

• Cleveland allows the sixth most receptions per game (6.3) to tight ends.

• The Steelers are being blitzed on 25% of dropbacks. Only three offenses are blitzed at a lower rate.

• Browns DT Mason Graham had two sacks in Week 3 and now has four this year. Graham is the only Browns defender with multiple sacks. Graham also has six tackles for loss. He is generating a sack on 5.1% of pass-rush opportunities, best in the league among defensive tackles with a minimum of 50 pass-rush opportunities.

• Jaylen Warren played 56 snaps last week. No other running back played more than three. Warren's 91.5% snap share in Week 3 was the second highest among any running back this season.

• Warren accounted for 176 total yards and averaged 7.5 yards per carry last week. In the first two games of the season, Warren had minus-14 rushing yards before first contact. Last week, he had 69. Among running backs with 30-plus carries, Warren is fifth in yards per carry after contact. Warren's 216 rushing yards not only lead the team, but no one else has more than 37. His 4.7 yards-per-carry average is third among running backs with at least 25 carries. He ran a route on 70.3% of dropbacks last week.

• Cleveland has allowed an explosive run on 16.7% of carries, worst in the league.

• CB Denzel Ward has both of Cleveland's forced fumbles.

• The Browns' red-zone defense (44.4%) is eighth best.

• Pittsburgh is averaging a league-low 3.1 yards per play on third downs.

• Cleveland's opponents are 0 for 4 on fourth downs.

When Cleveland has the ball

• The Browns averaged 4.1 yards per play last week and 4.8 for the season. The Steelers allowed 6.3 yards per play last week and are at 5.5 through three games.

• The Browns have back-to-back games with 21-plus points scored for the first time since Weeks 12 and 13 in 2024. The Browns scored 21-plus points just three times during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

• Cleveland throws deep at a 9% rate, 28^th highest. Pittsburgh faces deep passes at a 10% rate, also 28^th highest.

• Cleveland is throwing the ball at a 55.1% clip, 18^th highest.

• The Browns have a 9.0% explosive play rate. Only two offenses are worse.

• Joe Burrow threw for 282 yards last week with 188 of them going to Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in Pittsburgh. His average time to throw was just 2.51 seconds.

• The Browns use play-action on 30.1% of their dropbacks, seventh highest. Pittsburgh's defense is seeing play-action at just a 24% rate, lowest in the league.

• Last week, Denzel Boston played 62 snaps and fellow WR KC Concepcion played 60. Jerry Jeudy was third among wide receivers with 36. Boston has a 91.1% snap rate for the season. In terms of targets per route run for the season, Concepcion is at 26% compared to 17% for Boston.

• Boston has aligned out wide at a 90.8% rate. He leads all rookies with 195 receiving yards.

• Concepcion's route shares have gone from 65% to 74% to 95% last week. He has run 62% of his routes from the slot. His depth of target is just 4.6 on average.

• Harold Fannin Jr. had two touchdown receptions last week and 12 catches over his past two games. He has played 85% of the Browns' snaps. Fannin has multiple receptions in all 19 NFL games he has played in.

• The Steelers are allowing the third fewest (3.3) receptions per game to tight ends.

• Boston, Concepcion and Fannin have accounted for 53 of the Browns' 82 targets.

• Jamel Dean has aligned out wide on 97.3% of his snaps with the Steelers. Jalen Ramsey has aligned outside for just two snaps.

• Burrow was sacked just once in Pittsburgh.

• Over his past 16 starts, Browns QB Deshaun Watson averages four sacks taken per game. He has the fourth highest sack rate (8.7%) in 2026, being sacked nine times on 103 dropbacks, five in Week 1.

• Pittsburgh leads the NFL in sack rate (11.8%) when rushing four or fewer pass-rushers.

• The Steelers face an average time to throw of just 2.83 seconds. Only one defense faces a lower time to throw.

• T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith are one of two pairs with three or more sacks each.

• The Browns ran for 132 yards last week, 45 from Watson.

• Cleveland is gaining 0.6 yards on average before first contact, only ahead of Jacksonville.

• RB Quinshon Judkins had a season-high 62% rush share last week. He hasn't had a game in which he averaged over 4.0 yards per carry since Week 5 of last year. Judkins is averaging 2.9 yards per carry over his last 12 games. 84.1% of Judkins' rushing yards have come after first contact (10^th most). He is coming off season highs in carries (18) and scrimmage yards (79) last week.

• The Steelers defense has contacted the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage on 52.1% of designed runs, third best in the league.

• The Steelers are allowing 3.4 yards per carry on rush attempts at Watt compared to 4.6 on runs away from him.

• Watson is Cleveland's second-leading rusher with 105 yards on the ground. He is second among quarterbacks (with at least 50 snaps) in designated rush share (14%) and is third in scramble rate (12%).

• Cincinnati rushed for 83 yards against the Steelers.

• The Browns are the first team since at least 2017 whose top five offensive linemen by snap count did not play for the team last season.

• Pittsburgh's third-down defense (33.3%) is sixth best. The Browns convert on third downs at a 30.6% rate, 30^th in the league. Cleveland is just 3 of 19 (15.8%) on 3rd-and-long (7 yards or more) situations, worst in the league.

• Pittsburgh's red-zone defense (33.3%) is fourth best, and the Steelers have allowed a league-low three red-zone possessions.

• Patrick Queen and Jalen Ramsey have yet to miss a snap. Jaquan Brisker has missed just one.

• Highsmith has played 115 snaps compared to 113 for Watt and 95 for Nick Herbig.

Special teams

• Robert Spears-Jennings added another special teams tackle last week, bringing his total to 8. That leads the NFL and no one else has more than 6.

• The Falcons and Buccaneers have yet to have a touchback on a kickoff. Pittsburgh and Cleveland are among nine teams with just one. The Ravens have the most with seven.

Most memorable moment: Steelers 36, Browns 33 (Jan. 5, 2003, Wild Card Round at Heinz Field)

This was a rare playoff confrontation between the Steelers and Cleveland. Late in the third quarter Cleveland was winning, 24-7. Browns QB Kelly Holcomb finished the day with 429 passing yards, but they could only muster 38 rushing yards, and a lack of a running game made it very difficult to put Pittsburgh away. QB Tommy Maddox led a furious late-game comeback and the Steelers scored 22 fourth-quarter points to advance to the next round. Meanwhile, the Browns couldn't find their way back into the playoffs after this loss until the 2020-21 season.

Key matchups

Browns rookie wide receivers vs. Steelers cornerbacks

The Browns drafted Concepcion with one of their two first-round picks, then quickly doubled down by drafting Boston in the second round. These two rookies with contrasting styles look very promising, albeit early in their careers. Along with Fannin and Judkins, the Browns could have an enviable group of skill-position players for years to come.

Steelers RB Jaylen Warren vs. Browns LB Carson Schwesinger

With Myles Garrett now in Los Angeles, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year might be Cleveland's best all-around defensive player. Not only that, Schwesinger is quickly becoming one of the best off-the-ball linebackers in the entire league.