Mike Tomlin and Freddie Kitchens both fielded questions this week about whether or not the Steelers-Browns rivalry is back. Tomlin, without calling it a rivalry, said that Sunday's matchup against the Browns has a similar feeling to previous games against fellow division foes Cincinnati and Baltimore.
Kitchens, on the other hand, is not ready to declare the Steelers-Browns matchup a rivalry, or anything close to it. Simply put, Cleveland's first-year head coach doesn't believe that his team has done enough to consider it a rivalry.
"It takes two to have a rivalry, so we've gotta do our part," said Kitchens, whose team will look to complete a season sweep of Pittsburgh this Sunday at Heinz Field. "That's probably not going to sit well with some people but, to me, you've gotta win your share to make it a rivalry."
As a follow-up, Kitchens was asked if he's done anything during his short time in Cleveland to help make Steelers-Browns a rivalry.
"I don't think I've done anything," he said. "No, I don't think our team has done anything. I think our team is focused on this week, and I think that's what they feel. We haven't done anything. What have we done? We haven't done anything."
The Browns defeated the Steelers in Week 11, 21-7, to win its first gave over Pittsburgh since 2014. It also helped the Browns remain in playoff contention after a 2-6 start to the season. Did that win do anything towards rebuilding the Pittsburgh-Cleveland rivalry?
"No," Kitchens responded. "Not even close."
It's clear that Kitchens believes his team needs to do more -- both against the Steelers along with against the rest of the NFL -- for the Browns-Steelers rivalry to truly be back. It's hard to argue with him, as the Browns still have ground to make up after having little success during their first two decades back in the NFL. During that span, the Browns have had just two winning seasons and one playoff appearance, a first-round loss to the Steelers in 2002. Since 1999, Browns are just 7-34-1 against the Steelers, who have won nine division titles, three AFC championships and two Super Bowl titles over that span.
While he's right with regard to the Browns needing to win more to make it a true rivalry, Kitchens can't deny that Sunday's game will have the intensity befitting a rivalry. The two teams are less than three weeks removed from their chippy "Thursday Night Football" matchup that resulted in 33 players receiving fines and two players earning multi-game suspensions. Myles Garrett, the Browns' talented pass rusher, has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL for slamming Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph in the head with Rudolph's own helmet.
Kitchens said that his team keeping its composure on Sunday shouldn't be an issue.
"It's easy. It's either you or the team," Kitchens said. "Make a decision."
"Composure's always a key, especially when you play divisional games," Kitchens continued. "We hold divisional games at a high standard around here because they mean just a little bit more from the standpoint of how your season's affected. Emotion is always a part of the game. As I've said this before, it's the ability to keep your emotion in check and play with composure and passion instead of the emotion."
Throughout the Browns' turbulent season, Kitchens has preached the importance of mental toughness, playing with composure and avoiding mind-numbing mistakes. Kitchens has also stressed the importance of staying united amidst the trials and tribulations that inevitably occur during the course of a season. While they struggled in each of these facets during the early stages of the season, the Browns never fell completely off the tracks, something that has enabled them to remain in playoff contention after winning three straight games.
Kitchens knows what his team will need to continue to do over the season's final five games to remain in playoff contention.
"We wanna be tough and we wanna play smart, because that's what usually wins football games," he said. "And that entails a lot of different things … and you kind of have to put it all together to be successful. And sometimes, when you have younger guys, it takes a little bit of time to put it together. I think we're starting to see of of those examples that they can focus and concentrate just on the task at hand."
The task at hand is currently on beating the Steelers for the second time in a season, something the franchise hasn't done in over 30 years. If they can do that, one of the NFL's historic rivalries may finally be back.
