Heading into the playoffs as the AFC North Division champions and with an 11-5 record the Steelers will host the Cleveland Browns on Wild Card Weekend Sunday Night Football. The Steelers had just played the Browns a week prior and lost, but they rested many of their starters for the playoffs and only lost by 4. The Browns are a team that the Steelers use as a punching bag having not lost to them at Heinz Field since 2003. On top of that, the Browns offensive line, a couple of players on defence, and their head coach Kevin Stefanski all contracted Covid-19 so they have to sit this one out. The Steelers also had to deal with a returning illness. Not anything that causes players to get sick or spread it to those that can, but that good ol’ drama that plagued the team 2 years ago. Wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster, one who posts TikToks of him doing dances on opponents’ logos when the team is on a losing streak, decided to give Cleveland more motivation by saying “The Browns is the Browns,” when asked about how confident he is in beating the Browns.

Once the game began the first snap set the tone of the entire game. Pouncey sent the ball flying over Big Ben’s head all the back into the end zone and he and James Connor could have fallen on it, instead, they let the Browns score a touchdown on the Steelers’ first offensive play. This poor play would snowball into 3 more touchdowns led by Browns QB Baker Mayfield to give Cleveland a 28-0 lead after one quarter of play. The Steelers defense which broke and are adding to the consecutive sack streak record didn’t apply any pressure to Baker and he was able to orchestrate his offense the way that he envisioned. When the Steelers attempted a comeback in the fourth quarter, it was too little and too late and the defense kept giving up touchdowns. The final score of the game was 48-37, and the Browns moved on to face the Kansas City Chiefs.

This game leaves many questions for the Steelers. Can this team win a title with the roster that they have? Will they let Juju and Connor go in free agency? Will they ever get a serviceable tight end? How can they fix the offensive line? Is the locker room still not under control, meaning they’ve learned absolutely nothing from the past. Is Roethlisberger’s career over? Should the Steelers pursue a new head coach since they haven’t won a Super Bowl in 12 years despite all the talent they’ve had over the years? Nevertheless, management will have to make very tough decisions this spring whether that’d be go all in for next season, or enter a full rebuild.