Trade Joey Porter Jr. and lose to the Cleveland Browns in a 24-hour span. This is the new normal for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And I say “new normal,” but it’s not exactly new, is it? The Steelers haven’t beaten the Browns in Cleveland since Ben Roethlisberger’s final season in the NFL back in 2021, and they’ve made a habit of trading top players at key positions without any sort of backup plan in place.
They did it with Diontae Johnson in 2023 and didn’t find an adequate No. 2 for George Pickens. They then
traded Pickens in 2025, didn’t find a good No. 2 to put opposite DK Metcalf, and Pickens went on to be an All-Pro. Now, they’ve dealt Porter and their secondary was immediately exposed by Deshaun Watson and the Browns.
This isn’t the team from the 2000s where their defense was the best in the league for a six-year span and the offense was being led by a young star at the position. At some point, they stopped being the big brother that would give the Browns a noogie twice a year. Instead, they are the brother that is past their prime and still clinging to his glory days at a high school reunion. At some point, it’s time to take off the letterman jacket and class ring and leave your hometown.
The Steelers haven’t done that, though, and it doesn’t feel like they ever will. Not with this owner, at least. Rather than being a team that consistently competes for Super Bowls like they did 15-20 years ago, now they trade players they don’t want to pay and lose to the Browns every year. Because that’s who they are now. Draft a good player, player showcases high-end talent, trade player away, try trading for another player to replace the player you just traded. The whole “Browns is the Browns” joke is certainly rich coming from any Steelers fan who still says it, because at this point, the Steelers is the Steelers, and this is their identity.
But hey, that 2008 season was special, wasn’t it? It’s the morning after game day, and it’s time for the Steelers to change how they do business.
Aaron Rodgers miscues
Aaron Rodgers had several misses that severely impacted the outcome. In the third quarter, he had DK Metcalf wide open for what would have been the easiest deep touchdown pass of his career. He didn’t see it and instead checked it down to Ben Skowronek.
On the final play of the game for the Steelers, Rodgers had Metcalf open again. This time, it would have been an easy completion to put the Steelers at the 35-yard line for what would have been a 52-yard field goal for Chris Boswell to try and send the game into overtime. Instead, he forces a ball to Roman Wilson that gets picked off and seals the game.
Pressure on Rodgers puts hard cap on Steelers offense
The Browns found a specific defense that worked and just ran it into the ground all night. Per Sumer Sports, Cleveland played one-high safety on 80 percent of looks, which usually coincided with pressure getting to Rodgers. They rushed five on roughly one third of snaps, and the Steelers couldn’t figure out a counter for what the Browns were doing for most of the night. There were sacks where Rodgers held the ball for quite a bit, but that had a lot to do with the Steelers’ receivers complete inability to generate separation against man coverage. The Steelers don’t have consistent man-beaters, and that’s something that defenses can certainly hone in on throughout the year.
Atrocious tackling and coverage
The lack of ability to take down a ball carrier was abhorrent. Cole Holcomb and Rayshawn Jenkins both riffed on bringing down Jaleel McLaughlin on the Browns’ first touchdown of the night. Payton Wilson and Patrick Queen both had dreadful nights when it came to bringing down ball carriers, and there were whiffs on potential sacks. It was a largely bad game from the defense, especially in the first half when the Browns scored 21 unanswered points.
Additionally, coverage was terrible. Daylen Everette was torched multiple times, including a 60-yard bomb to Denzel Boston that set up a Browns touchdown, and a slant while playing outside leverage while Cleveland was deep in its own territory. If only they had a high-quality young cornerback on their roster.
Other notes
- T.J. Watt continues looking like his old self. He finished with a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a sack.
- Jalen Ramsey needs moved to safety permanently and Brandin Echols should take the nickel spot. The current safety rotation just isn’t getting it done.
- The offense needs to run through Jaylen Warren. On money downs, and short yardage situations, he needs to be the guy.
- I’m officially at Defcon 3 with Chris Boswell. If he makes his first kick of the night, we are having a very different conversation right now.
Let us know what you think in the comments. Be sure to bookmark Behind the Steel Curtain for all the latest news, breakdowns, and more!
- Steelers allow five sacks on Aaron Rodgers, fall to Browns 27-24
- Steelers trade Joey Porter Jr to Cowboys
- Browns HC Todd Monken jokes that T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward should retire
- Jerry Jones hints that Cowboys have interest in Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.
- Steelers CB Brandin Echols in concussion protocol
