Week Four came up fast as the Pittsburgh Steelers had little time to enjoy their win over the Bengals. It’s another division rival as the Steelers head up the turnpike to take on the Cleveland Browns. Here’s everything you need to know for the game.
What: Pittsburgh Steelers 2-1 at Cleveland Browns 2-1
Where: Huntington Bank Stadium Cleveland, Ohio
When: Thursday October 1st, 2026 815pmET
Weather: Cloudy and 78 and kickoff. Winds to 12mph.
Surface: Natural Grass
Wagering Information: Steelers -3 O/U 38.5
Last Week: The Browns defeated the Carolina Panthers 21-18 in Cleveland while the Steelers defeated the Bengals in Pittsburgh 30-27.
TV: Amazon Prime Al Michaels (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analysis), Kaylee Hartung (field reporter)
TV Coverage in Your Area (courtesy 506sports.com): National TV Audience
Radio: Steelers Audio Network Rob King (play-by-play), Max Starks (analysis), Missi Matthews (field reporter)
Westwood One Radio: Ryan Radtke (play-by-play), Ross Tucker (analysis)
Head Official: Clete Blakeman. He’s an attorney and is in his 17th season as a head official. His last game with the Steelers was week three of last year which was a 21-14 win in New England. His crew had 15 penalties that afternoon. 49% of this crew’s calls are offensive holding or false starts. The Steelers are 5-10 in Blakeman’s last 15 games.
Game Status (courtesy steelers.com) PIT: No. 5 CB Jalen Ramsey (Wrist) – Questionable, No. 13 RB Rico Dowdle (Toe) – Out
No. 94 DL Yahya Black (NIR/Personal) – Questionable CLE: No. 16 WR Tylan Wallace (Knee) – Out, No. 74 C Elgton Jenkins (Concussion) – Out, No. 78 G Teven Jenkins (Back) – Out
Injury Notes: With Dowdle out, how is the division of labor handled with Jaylen Warren as the bell cow?
2026 NFL Ranks:
Total Offense: PIT 22nd, CLE 30th
Passing Offense: PIT 18th, CLE 28th
Rushing Offense: PIT 22nd, CLE 29th
Total Defense: PIT 7th, CLE 22nd
Passing Defense: PIT 8th, CLE 18th
Rushing Defense: PIT 18th, CLE 23rd
AFC North Standings:
Pittsburgh 2-1
Baltimore 2-1
Cincinnati 2-1
Cleveland 2-1
This Week in the AFC North: Jacksonville at Cincinnati 1pmET, Tennessee at Baltimore 1pmET
What You Need to Know: The Steelers are 3-13 on the road on Thursday Night Football since 1980… Cleveland is 10-2 on Thursday Night Football in that same span… Pittsburgh has lost six of their last seven TNF games… Ben Roethlisberger threw five touchdown passes on TNF in 2018… Joey Porter, Jr was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for second and sixth round draft picks.
McCarthy Minute: Coach is 17-8 on TNF which is the most wins by any coach… McCarthy is 2-0 at home this season and 0-1 on the road… He has 175 career victories making him 18th all-time for wins by a head coach.
Cleveland Browns Names to Know: QB Deshaun Watson, TE Harold Fannin, RB Quinshon Judkins, WR KC Concepcion, WR Denzel Boston, LB Carson Schewsinger, DT Mason Graham, S Grant Delpit, CB Denzel Ward, DE Jared Verse, K Andre Szmyt
What’s at Stake: All four teams in the North are 2-1. A win keeps that team on top while a loss could find them at the bottom of the division by the end of the weekend.
All-Time Series: Steelers lead 84-64-1 while Browns lead all-time at home 43-29-1
Last Meeting: December 2025 in Cleveland. Browns’ 13 Steelers 6
Postseason History: Steelers lead 2-1
Steelers Regular Season Game Highs vs CLE:
PASSING: 417 yards Ben Roethlisberger 10/18/2019
RUSHING: 223 yards Willie Parker 12/07/2006
RECEIVING: 187 yards Antonio Brown 01/03/2016
SACKS: 4.0 T.J. Watt 01/03/2022, Jerrol Williams 12/22/1991
INTERCEPTIONS: 3 Darren Perry 09/11/1994, Richard Shelton 12/22/1991, Donnie Shell 11/22/1981
Check out the latest SCB Steelers Podcast presented by DEK Roofing Inc for more on the Steelers.
Three Things We Need to See for a Steelers’ Victory:
–Build On It. There were a lot of good things to come out of Sunday’s win. The offensive line was better… The running game was better… Aaron Rodgers looked better… But now that has to translate. Yes, the NFL is truly a week-to-week endeavor but the offense has an opportunity to improve and take another positive step forward.
–Make Him Beat You. For all of his issues as a person and a player, Deshaun Watson is still a really talented player. If the Steelers allow him to sit in the pocket, make reads and deliver throws then he will beat them. Watson is often guilty of holding the ball too long and he will cough it up because he holds it away from his body. If I’m Patrick Graham, I’m focused on stopping the run and forcing Watson to beat me.
-In the Middle. It wasn’t until the final moments of the game last week when the Steelers finally got some interior pressure – or any pressure for that matter. That has to be better but… the middle also has to shore up against the run too. The first three weeks have seen way too many big runs occur literally right over those A and B gaps. Sometimes it’s a D-Line issue while other times it may be the linebackers. Either way, that has to get better against a hard-running Judkins.
The ‘X’ Factor: Each week I will select a player from each team who I believe will need to play above and beyond in order for his team to win.
X-Factor Steelers: Chris Boswell. These TNF games are rarely well played. Guys are still beat up from Sunday and that usually leads to sloppy play and mistakes. Boswell can help alleviate those by taking care of business on his end. Make the PATs and FGs and don’t make any mistakes on kickoffs.
X-Factor Browns: Jared Verse. He’s the guy who will be the answer to the trivia question about who the Browns got in return for Myles Garrett. Verse is a really good player but he hasn’t gotten off to a solid start. All of that can be forgiven with a big night against the Steelers.
Prediction: There is really only one stat going in the Steelers’ favor and that’s Mike McCarthy’s record on TNF. Literally everything else is against them. Throw in the fact that the team saw Joey Porter, Jr get traded less than 24 hours before the game and you have to think emotions will be an issue. All this said, I think the veteran Steelers find a way to get this done by the Lake.
Steelers 23 Browns 17
Season Prediction Record: 2-1
