Rewind to last season and this rivalry was as tight as it gets: Pittsburgh took the first meeting, then Cleveland flipped the script late in the year, winning 13-6 to snap the Steelers' momentum before Pittsburgh recovered to win the division anyway. That kind of back-and-forth is the norm in this series, and neither team looks built to blow the other off the field.
The larger context matters here too. Pittsburgh's 2025 ended in disaster — a wild-card no-show against Houston where the offense mustered 175 total yards and the defense coughed up two defensive touchdowns. That's the version of the Steelers that shows up when the operation stalls, and it's exactly what a shaky, unproven Browns front seven led by Garrett is built to exploit if Rodgers doesn't have his legs under him early.
Cleveland, meanwhile, is trying to climb out of consecutive losing seasons, and that climb starts with the coaching change from Kevin Stefanski to Monken and a receiving corps that got two rookie infusions in KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston. Both rosters have real injury notes to track — Pittsburgh's watching tackle Broderick Jones work back from a neck issue, while Cleveland has question marks around Denzel Ward, Mason Graham and Harold Fannin Jr.
None of it will matter much until Monken names his starter and Pittsburgh's line proves it can protect a quarterback who turns 43 during the season. This is a rivalry game dressed up as a litmus test for two very different rebuilds — one betting on a legend's last lap, the other betting on patience paying off down the road.