Steelers will beat Browns in rematch; here’s why

This is not just a football game. It is a referendum on two football franchises — the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns version 2.0.

One has secured its place among the NFL’s flagship enterprises.

The other went 0-16 two years ago.

One owns six Vince Lombardi Trophies.

The other has never won a playoff game (that is, if you believe these Browns were born in 1999, which they were, whereas the Browns of fabled football lore play in Baltimore).

One, for all its recent drama, remains a model of stability, having employed just three coaches since 1969.

The other goes through coaches like coffee filters. Its past six, over 11 years, were fired immediately after losses to the Steelers.

That is the deep background, and if you believe in the force of history, it is pertinent going into a game with so much at stake. You trust one team’s culture over the other’s.

But the immediate background might be more pertinent, and it could be encapsulated this way: The Browns punked the Steelers two weeks ago and have doubled down since.

Freddie Kitchens’ guys ran around delivering head shots like flu shots that night. Tensions boiled over (you’ve probably seen the replay), when Myles Garrett swung a helmet at Mason Rudolph’s uncovered head.

The Browns, rightfully, expressed regret for Garrett’s actions. Garrett issued a written apology to the Steelers and Rudolph the next day, as did Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam.

“We sincerely apologize to Mason Rudolph and the Pittsburgh Steelers,” wrote the Haslams.

And then they took it all back.

Garrett, six days later, accused Rudolph of hurling a racial slur, raising all kinds of questions. Such as, why did Garrett wait so long to speak up? Why would he publicly apologize to a man he claims slurred him and who publicly called him “cowardly”?

Next thing you knew, Browns players were suddenly backing Garrett’s contention, and Dee Haslam was wearing a Garrettthemed beanie to a game.

The Browns, through their actions, essentially rescinded their apology. They

double-punked the Steelers. Defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson even poked fun at Rudolph, wishing for his appearance in the rematch.

“Did you see him last game?” Richardson said.

This already was a big game. It is now a Holy War at Steelers headquarters. Steelers players were livid with Garrett over his actions and what they perceived as his lie. The other head shots that night didn’t sit well, either, from coach Mike Tomlin on down. And now there’s trash talk coming from a 5-6 team?

All of that will contribute to a Steelers victory. More

tangibly, so will this …

• The Steelers will be better prepared this time, though still woefully undermanned. The untold story of Game 1 was that they hung around and had a chance to tie (if Johnny Holton gets a call or makes a catch, they might have) despite in-game injuries that forced them to use receivers such as Tevin Jones, who’d never played and barely practiced.

• The quarterback play will improve if “Duck” Hodges merely refrains from throwing it to men wearing orange helmets. Tomlin didn’t exactly set the bar at unreachable heights when he said of Hodges, “I expect him to not kill us,” but he absolutely made the right move. He read the psyche of his team and chose the quarterback who has given it a jolt of positive energy over the one who, for the moment, appears beaten.

That doesn’t mean Hodges will play well. It just means Tomlin made the correct call.

• The Steelers will have a better running game with Benny Snell Jr. Plus, Garrett’s out. So is Maurkice Pouncey, but the Steelers are 10-1 in games B.J. Finney has started (at center or guard).

• The Steelers defense began to figure out Baker “Roll to the Right” Mayfield last time. He started 10 for 14 but went 7 for 18 thereafter. There were missed chances for interceptions (Steven Nelson, for one). Don’t expect the Steelers to finish with zero takeaways and just one sack again.

• If one team blows up, it’ll be the Browns, who evoke the old Vontaze Burfict Bengals in this respect: You wonder if they can handle prosperity. They lead the league in penalties. They nearly handed a game to the Steelers’ JV squad. And after three straight home wins, they now find themselves in the pressurized role of favorite, heading into a heated environment, desperately trying to measure up to Big Brother.

As ESPN analyst Louis Riddick put it, “I’m not convinced [the Browns have] the football character required to go on a run.”

Maybe they do. Maybe they really are different this year. The talent’s there. Maybe they will finally arrive, 20 years into their existence.

Better bet: They’ll lose, like the Cleveland Browns usually do.