The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers faced the Cleveland Browns, they trailed by a touchdown one snap into the game, by 28 points after the first quarter and by the end of the night were victims of another home playoff loss.

Nine months later, that 48-37 wild-card loss still stings, but it will not serve as motivation when the Steelers and Browns meet again Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.

“I’m sure it comes up in some form or fashion, but not as a rallying cry or not as a focus of a meeting,” coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday. “There are a lot of variables that are (exclusive to) 2021 that should have our attention.

“We have a lot riding on this game, playing a really good team in their venue.”

The Browns have followed that trip to the AFC division round last January with a 4-3 start that doesn’t match preseason expectations and has them nestled at third place in the division. The Steelers, using back-to-back wins to claw back to .500, are 3-3 as they return from their bye.

The Steelers and Browns each trail a pair of 5-2 teams, the surprising Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens. It is the only one of the NFL’s eight divisions that is composed of four teams with winning or .500 records.

Given the way the Bengals and Ravens have started, the loser of Sunday’s Steelers-Browns matchup faces an uphill climb to regain playoff positioning. Not that Tomlin is thinking that far ahead.

“We still have five games left in our division,” he said. “Everybody’s got a lot of divisional play left. You can waste a lot of time looking at divisional standings on weeks like this one. That story will be written with play over the upcoming months, and that’s just the reality of it.”

When the teams met in January, the Browns walked away with their first victory at Heinz Field since 2003. It also was their first playoff win since after the 1994 season.

The game got off to a disastrous start for the Steelers, with Maurkice Pouncey snapping the ball over Ben Roethlisberger’s head and into the end zone on the first play. Karl Joseph, now a member of the Steelers practice squad, pounced on it to give Cleveland a 7-0 lead.

Two interceptions by Roethlisberger in the first quarter were converted into touchdowns, and the Browns had a 28-0 advantage that was reminiscent of the Steelers’ previous home playoff game when Jacksonville jumped to 21-0 and 28-7 first-half leads in the 2017 divisional round.

“You’re saying, ‘Damn, what just happened, we have three quarters left in this game,’ ” defensive lineman Chris Wormley said. “The biggest thing was the shock value that we were down four scores, and it’s the first quarter.”

The loss unceremoniously ended a season that began with 11 consecutive wins and included a division championship and No. 2 seed in the conference playoffs.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot,” Wormley said. “I know a lot of guys have been thinking about it. We’re trying to right that ship this week.”

He’s not alone. Tight end Eric Ebron wants to avenge that playoff defeat, too.

“They whooped our (butt) at home and sent us home,” he said. “If you all can’t get motivated for that, you probably shouldn’t be playing football.”

At his weekly press conference, Tomlin noted that four of the Steelers’ starters on offense — running back Najee Harris, offensive linemen Kendrick Green and Dan Moore, and tight end Pat Freiermuth — were in college when the Steelers and Browns last met.

“You have to acknowledge in the game of football that things change year in and year out,” Tomlin said. “What seemingly is low-hanging fruit is oftentimes irrelevant to some of the people in the room, so we don’t spend a lot of time talking about old stories or old news.”

Tomlin said incentive should come from what is at stake as the Steelers and Browns approach the midpoint of the NFL season.

“As competitors that fires us up,” he said. “But forget about being fired up. We have to be duly prepared. We’re preparing with an edge and understanding of the significance of this game. Isn’t that what we signed up for: significant games, big-time competition, divisional play? It’s a great way to come off a bye week.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)