Nobody in Cleveland quite believes this yet, and honestly, who could blame them? The Browns were embarrassed on opening weekend, written off by Week 2, and now — after Andre Szmyt drilled a career-long 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in a 27-24 win over Pittsburgh — they sit alone atop the AFC North at 3-1, their first 3-1 start since 2021. Read that again.
It nearly unraveled in classic Cleveland fashion. Up 21-10 at halftime, the Browns watched Aaron Rodgers — playing what was scheduled to be his final Thursday night game — drag the Steelers back to 24-all with a 3-yard strike to Pat Freiermuth and a quarterback sneak for two with 1:42 to play. Deshaun Watson, sacked for a 4-yard loss moments earlier, answered with his third straight week producing a go-ahead fourth-quarter drive: four completions for 46 yards, good enough to let Szmyt swing from distance. "I knew it was money," Watson said. Twenty-two straight makes and counting for the kicker nobody saw coming.
Watson finished 24-of-33 for 268 yards and a score — his best first half in a Browns uniform (181 yards) — while Rodgers threw for 299, three touchdowns and two interceptions, the last a dagger to Grant Delpit with one second left. Cleveland has now won eight straight Thursday night games, the league's longest active streak. First-year coach Todd Monken, asked about the 34-10 opening loss giving way to this, just shook his head: "If you'd have said we'd be 3-1 after that first game, I would've said you're nuts."