The Pittsburgh Steelers face a quick turnaround after their triumph over Cincinnati. They face another division rival when they travel to Cleveland to play the Browns this Thursday. The Steelers are 12-15 overall on Thursday Night Football and a sad 3-12 when they travel for a Thursday game.
Overall, the Steelers comfortably lead the Browns in wins with 83-65-1, but they have never won in Cleveland on a Thursday night. To be successful this week, they need to break a streak of 4 defeats. They have beaten the Browns twice on a Thursday, but that’s when the games were played in Pittsburgh.
In the early days of the Turnpike Rivalry, it was the Browns who owned the Steelers. Cleveland joined the NFL in 1950 and immediately became one of the power houses of the league under their coach Paul Brown.
The former Browns player, Chuck Noll, began Pittsburgh’s turnaround from the Same Old Steelers in the seventies after he was made the Steelers coach in 1969. Despite losing the first three contests against his former team, Coach Noll produced a 15-5 winning record in the Steelers super seventies.
As the Steelers struggled to reach the heights of the previous decade, the pendulum began to swing back to Cleveland in the eighties. After Pittsburgh’s dismal 1988 season when they could only manage five wins and lose both Cleveland contests, 1989 would challenge Coach Noll.
The Steelers used their initial first round draft pick on running back Tim Worley. After trading Mike Merriweather to the Vikings for the overall number 24 pick, they used it on offensive lineman Tom Ricketts. Carnell Lake was their second-round pick.
The new season opened in Pittsburgh with Cleveland as the visitors. The Steelers were on a six-game losing streak against their opponents. Cleveland’s kicker Matt Bahr had played a decade earlier for Pittsburgh. “It was ten years ago I was on the Steelers, and it was a war,” declared Bahr. “It still is a war. I don’t think the rivalry has lost any of its intensity or bitterness. It’s nasty. “
The game also pitted Cleveland’s head coach Bud Carson against the team he was previously defensive co-ordinator for, and credited with forging the Steel Curtain.
Steelers quarterback was Bubby Brister. Much was expected of him after a year’s experience in the role. “In the back of our minds we know we can beat them because we beat them in the preseason. We play Cleveland then we play Cincinnati. If we come out of the box really well, I think we have a chance for the playoffs.”
With his three fumbles, Worley helped the Browns to a resounding 51-0 win as the Steelers lost a game by its biggest margin. The headline in Cleveland’s Plain Dealer read, “Embarrassed Steelers fumble for explanations,” and credited the Browns for forcing Pittsburgh’s errors. Bahr added three field goals to his 6 PATs.
The following week a 10-41 thumping in Cincinnati saw the Steelers begin the season 0-2 losing heavily to two division rivals. Not the start that any team would want to enjoy, but the Steelers recovered with wins against Minnesota (27-14) and in Detroit (23-3) before another loss to Cincinnati (16-26). They now travelled to Cleveland with the prospect again of back to back divisional defeats.
During the fourth quarter of Cleveland’s previous home game, the officials had taken the players off to preserve their safety. A deluge of dog bones, eggs, batteries and rocks had been thrown from the Dawg Pound.
Having not won a game in Cleveland for almost a decade, the Steelers were 10-point underdogs. The Steelers would face a Dawg Pound expecting another humiliation.
An injury to Bubby Brister in the Bengals game saw him replaced by Todd Blackledge. Worley believed that with Blackledge at quarterback it would mean he would see more of the ball. On his fumblitis problems in the opener, Worley said, “I’ve put that Cleveland game behind me, way behind me.”
The (2-3) Steelers at the (3-2) Browns; October 15, 1989
As the Browns moved the ball on their first possession, Dwayne Woodruff stepped up to intercept Bernie Kosar. The Steelers reliance on their running game only moved the chains once and the turnover resulted in a Gary Anderson 49-yard field goal.
Both teams continued to struggle on offense. A Delton Hall forced fumble recovered by Bryan Hinkle at the end of the first quarter gave the Steelers another chance to add to their score, but Anderson’s 45-yard field goal attempt failed.
The teams exchanged turnovers. Thane Gash intercepted Todd Blackledge while Greg Loyd’s forced fumble was recovered by Carnell lake. Neither offense could take advantage of their opponent’s mistakes. The Steelers went into the locker room at the half leading by just the field goal.
In the Steelers second series of the second half, Blackledge finally found his receivers. A completion of 28 yards to Weegie Thompson began a drive that finished with Rodney Carter’s 14-yard touchdown catch.
Gerald Williams forced another fumble which Lloyd recovered, but again the Steelers drive fizzled out.
As the game went into the final quarter, Lake intercepted another Kosar pass. The Steelers made one first down before punting.
The Browns returned the punt for 21 yards to give them good field position and Eric Metcalf finally gave the Dawg Pound something to shout about. His 2-yard touchdown run saw the Browns pull within three points.
The Steelers hit back immediately when Dwight Stone’s 73-yard kick return gave the Steelers a first down on Cleveland’s 25. Warren Williams completed the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run to seal the Steelers win against a background of the Dawg Pound chanting for their backup quarterback. “Pagel, Pagel.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers 17 at the Cleveland Browns 7
Chuck Noll said, “This was a great team effort and I’m sure the result of the first game had a lot to do with the way we played. I was proud of the way our guys hung in there and got it done against some tough odds.”
Despite the two losses at the beginning of the season when fans called for his head, Chuck Noll kept faith with his team. They finished the season with three straight victories and five in their last six games for a 9-7 record.
The AFC Central division would finish with three teams on nine wins, but Cleveland would win the division title courtesy of a tied game against Kansas. The Steelers and the Oilers joined the Browns in the playoffs.
The Steelers beat the Oilers (26-23) in the wildcard game before being edged out of the divisional game in Denver (23-24). The Browns beat the Bills before also losing in Denver who went on to Super Bowl XXIV and lost 10-55 to San Francisco.
