The Cleveland Browns wrap up the home portion of their 2025 schedule today as they host the Pittsburgh Steelers on an afternoon when the weather will change throughout the day.
Heavy rain blanketed the Cleveland area throughout Sunday morning, and the forecast calls for the rain to continue for the first half of the game, although not as heavily as it was during the morning hours.
As the rain chances drop, the temperature will continue to rise from 49 degrees at kickoff to the upper 50s by the final whistle. It will also be windy, but the gusty winds are not expected to kick in until later Sunday night into Monday.
It will make for an interesting game, for sure, and the conditions will also provide another data point for the Browns as part of their evaluation process of rookie quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.
This is the second meeting between the Browns and Steelers this season, with Gabriel being the starter when the teams last played in Week 6. That day, Gabriel finished 29-of-52 for 221 yards and took six sacks in a 23-9 loss in Pittsburgh.
Gabriel was also the starter the following week in a bad-weather game against the Miami Dolphins that saw rain and heavy wind throughout the first half.
Operating a conservative gameplan due to the conditions, Gabriel was 13-of-18 for 116 yards as the Browns rolled to a 31-6 win fueled by three rushing touchdowns from Quinshon Judkins – two out of the Wildcat as Gabriel was denied some “crucial red zone snaps” – and an interception return for a touchdown by cornerback Tyson Campbell.
Sanders is now in the starter’s role at quarterback, and with six weeks of first-team practice reps in his back pocket, will be looking to break the team’s current four-game losing streak and continue Cleveland’s recent domination of the Steelers at home.
Today, against a Pittsburgh team needing a win to clinch the AFC North Division in a game played in less-than-ideal conditions, it will be a good opportunity to see what Sanders and the offense can do, and give the Browns a nice contrast to the games that Gabriel played against the Steelers and in the bad-weather tilt against the Dolphins.