Sunday's contest between the 3-9 Browns and 9-3 Steelers doesn't offer much intrigue on paper.
Those who judge a game by the numbers, though, are missing a key element: emotion.
The Steelers and Browns certainly don't like each other. Steelers receiver George Pickens won't even acknowledge the existence of one Browns defender, telling reporters "I don't even know who that is," on Friday.
Pickens didn't exactly wear Pittsburgh's loss to Cleveland on a snowy night along Lake Erie with the most professionalism. After falling to the Browns, 24-19 -- and getting into a scuffle with Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II in the back of the end zone on the game's final play -- Pickens maintained he didn't believe Cleveland was a good team.
Statistically, he's right. The Browns are all but eliminated from playoff contention at 3-9, falling well short of expectations after finishing 11-6 and reaching the playoffs last season.
Pickens doubled down on his stance Friday.
"I just go by the record," Pickens said.
When asked if he was giving the Browns bulletin board material, Pickens kept it simple: "I don't know what motivates them. I'm just focused on what we can do."
Cleveland and Pittsburgh have shared in a rivalry that spans decades, and while the Steelers have held the upper hand over the Browns for most of the last 25 years, Cleveland has landed a few punches along the way. They beat the Steelers on Super Wild Card Weekend in Pittsburgh in the 2020 season -- celebrating by mocking former Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster's statement that "the Browns is the Browns" -- and have experienced surprising success when facing them in Cleveland in recent years, making it 4-1 against Pittsburgh in Ohio with their Week 12 win on Thursday Night Football.
Still, the Steelers have been the Browns' big brother since they returned to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999. When folks think of AFC North rivalries, they first turn to the franchise formerly known as the Browns -- the Baltimore Ravens -- and their history with the Steelers, not the team that currently calls Cleveland home.
At 3-9, the Browns don't have much of a leg to stand on in the trash-talk game. They did score a win in that department when they defeated the Steelers a couple of weeks ago and own a 3-2 record in their last five meetings with the Steelers, but know the going will be much more difficult at Pittsburgh's Acrisure Stadium, a place in which the Browns haven't won since 2003.
Still, that didn't stop Newsome from firing back at Pickens on Friday.
"We care about the team," Newsome said, . "He's a guy who cares about himself. You see that in the penalties he causes."
The comment was timely: Pickens drew two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in Pittsburgh's win over Cincinnati in Week 13. Newsome added to his response by of a supportive direct message he'd received from Pickens back in 2019, providing the simple context of two emojis: a crying laughing face, and a clown face.
We'll see if Pickens and Newsome exchange words again Sunday in Pittsburgh. The Steelers WR is listed as questionable with a hamstring injury, but is expected to play.
Perhaps then they might even get to know each other a bit.
