The Browns isn’t the Browns this season, except in Pittsburgh. Opinion

PITTSBURGH — As the Browns prepared to enter a stadium filled with Terrible Towel-waving zealots, coach Todd Monken mapped out what he knew his team would need to do.“Your physicality and your effort has to be what our culture is,” Monken said last week.When game day arrived, though, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the punch-first-and-ask-questions-later aggressors. Consequently, the Browns were bruised and bloodied in a 27-6 loss on Sunday, Nov. 1, at Acrisure Stadium while the Steelers ascended to first place in the AFC North.More Browns news: Cleveland faced Pittsburgh Steelers for AFC North lead. What were our instant thoughts?After being manhandled for much of the afternoon, the Browns could not summon their typical fourth-quarter magic, not in a city where they have lost their past 23 regular-season games and the melody of Styx’s “Renegade” haunts the Cleveland’s franchise.In an unexpected twist, “Renegade” never blared from the speakers at Acrisure Stadium. The Steelers didn’t need it to spook the Browns. The Steelers simply dominated with superior intensity and execution.The Browns isn’t the Browns this season, except in Pittsburgh.NFL Week 8: Browns lose AFC North standings lead with loss to SteelersThe end of the first half painted a perfect picture of how the Steelers (6-2, 2-1 in the AFC North) manhandled the Browns (5-3, 2-1).The Steelers led 13-6 and could have played it safe by kicking a field goal on second-and-goal from the 1-yard line with five seconds left in the second quarter and no timeouts left.But Steelers coach Mike McCarthy saw no reason to stop pummeling Monken’s men. Tight end Pat Freiermuth replaced Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, and Pittsburgh tush pushed Freiermuth across the goal line with one second remaining.The Steelers led 20-6 at halftime and rolled the rest of the way."We certainly earned that," Monken said of the beatdown.The Steelers jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but the Browns are accustomed to falling behind early. Cleveland had been outscored 58-13 in the opening quarter through its first seven games.What made this time different is the extent to which the Browns were bullied early and often.Steelers guard Mason McCormick body-slammed Browns defensive end Jared Verse as Pittsburgh went ahead 7-0 with 7:57 left in the first quarter. Five plays after the Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen strip-sacked Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson and Queen recovered the fumble, running back Rico Dowdle rushed for a 9-yard touchdown. McCormick executed a wrestling move when Verse jumped in attempt to block the ensuing extra-point kick.Verse went public with his tough guy talk about the Steelers after the Browns beat them 27-24 on Oct. 1 in Cleveland and again during the buildup to their Week 8 clash. He called the Steelers “dirty” after the first showdown and expressed an eagerness to meet them again. In recent days, he said the Browns were determined to “make Pittsburgh ours” in the rematch.Appearing last week on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward said Verse’s comments would “be addressed.” McCormick addressed the remarks, drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty in the process.The Browns had many more problems than McCormick impersonating Bret “The Hitman” Hart. They had more taunting penalties (two) while trailing 27-6 than touchdowns (zero). The guilty parties were defensive end Sam Williams immediately following the Steelers’ successful extra-point kick with 9:39 left in the third quarter and running back Quinshon Judkins after he caught a pass for 12 yards with 1:39 left in the third quarter.Watson was sacked more times (eight) than points the Browns scored (six). He was hit on many other occasions and had to miss three plays during the game’s opening series while he was checked for a concussion.In addition to Watson, tight end Harold Fannin Jr. lost a fumble early in the first quarter. Andre Szmyt’s field goals of 32 and 49 yards accounted for Cleveland’s scoring.As for the Steelers, they never lost control. They humiliated the Browns defense by rushing 33 times for 200 yards (6.1 average) and three touchdowns.With a comfortable 21-point lead, the Steelers had the luxury of replacing Rodgers with backup quarterback Mason Rudolph with 3:20 left in the fourth quarter.“I don't know who the hell that team was that walked out there that presented themselves,” Verse said of the Browns. “We didn't do enough across the board from the first quarter to the last quarter.”Last week, Monken revealed he avoided focusing on the history of the Browns-Steelers rivalry and Cleveland’s difficulty winning in Pittsburgh.Sure, the Browns prevailed at the Steelers in a wild-card playoff game on Jan. 10, 2021, when hardly anyone was allowed to attend because of COVID-19 protocols. But the Browns still have yet to earn a season sweep of the Steelers since 1988.Through orange- and brown-tinted lenses, the 2026 Browns were supposed to be too young and naïve to know winning in Pittsburgh is a daunting task. It turns out ignorance is not always bliss. And the Steelers were supposed to be vulnerable to falling into a funk because of “The French Connection.” They were coming off the first NFL game in France, a 16-10 win in Paris over the New Orleans Saints, who will host the Browns in Week 9.But do you realize what supersedes everything else in a game defined by violence? Gaining the upper hand with physicality and effort.The Akron Beacon Journal sports department can be emailed at bjsports@thebeaconjournal.com.This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: The Browns isn’t the Browns this season, except in Pittsburgh. Opinion