It hasn’t been much of a competitive rivalry lately between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns. Pittsburgh has owned the AFC North matchups, with Cleveland winning just four times in the series since 2010. That includes last Sunday’s 24-22 win inside FirstEnergy Stadium, a Cleveland win that sets up a rematch this Sunday night in the wild-card round.
The man who will be calling the game for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, Al Michaels, thinks the young Browns are on the verge of something special. In a conference call with reporters through NBC Sports, Michaels said he can see the proverbial worm turning.
“Nothing lasts forever,” Michaels said. “Even though it’s been a one-sided rivalry, I think it’s the dawn of maybe a new era here where Pittsburgh is annually good and Cleveland should be pretty good for a number of years.
“You’ve got a really good quarterback, a lot of fun, you’ve got a great running back, you’ve got a great offensive line, you’ve got a head coach who did a helluva job this year. I think Cleveland-Pittsburgh is one of the better rivalries going forward.”
Michaels is clearly a fan of what head coach Kevin Stefanski, GM Andrew Berry and the Browns are building in Cleveland.
“When you have a coach and a quarterback situation like that, which appears to be highly promising for the future, a great offensive line, you’ve got a great running back in [Nick] Chubb, you’ve got another great running back in [Kareem] Hunt, you’ve got Myles Garrett on the other side, you’ve got all these guys,” Michaels enthused. “They’ve got a lot of stars, [Jarvis] Landry, you put him in that mix. A lot of players who are well known now, not only around the league but for the viewing public. … that’s why I think when you look at this team, clearly this to me is a team very much ascending.”
The Browns will face the Steelers shorthanded on Sunday, with Stefanski among many players and coaches who will be missing from the team’s first postseason game since the 2002 season. But that doesn’t dampen Michael’s positive energy for the Browns.
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