Why Browns actually have advantage over Steelers in Week 12 matchup

The Cleveland Browns are 2-8 - their worst start through 10 games since 2015 when they finished the season with a 3-13 record. And while this season is all but lost, there are still games to play, and games that they can win. 

One of those games is this Thursday when the Browns host the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are 8-2, winners of four straight, and coming off a huge win over the Baltimore Ravens. And while the Steelers are the better team, Cleveland has been a very difficult place for them to play over the last decade.

Since 2017, the Steelers have only won in Cleveland twice - Week 1 of the 2017 season and Halloween day in 2021, which was Ben Roethlisberger's final game in Cleveland. Overall in that span, the Browns are 4-2-1 at home against the Steelers. 

To add onto that, you can all but throw everything out the window in divisional games. And while the Browns' record isn't where they would like it to be, this is still a team that features nearly all the pieces they had a year ago when they won 11 games - this isn't a team Pittsburgh should take lightly. Additionally, the Steelers just played a very tough, hard-fought game against their arch-rivals - that takes a toll on a team to have to turn around and play four days later. 

So while the Browns may be playing for very little from this point out, they shouldn't be taken lightly, especially by a team that hasn't been largely successful in Cleveland for nearly a decade.