But it's Pittsburgh . . . 

Winning a game of professional football in Pittsburgh has baffled many National Football League teams over the years. At the top of that list reside the Cleveland Browns. 

Browns fans know misery awaits whenever the Steelers in Pittsburgh are next on the schedule, which they are Monday night on national television. They have grown accustomed to the reality that emerging with a victory there is virtually hopeless.

Winning in Pittsburgh occurs as often as twin rainbows. It's not always a matter of one team having better talent than the other. It often comes down to events within the game itself that affect the outcome. Strange occurrences that ultimately tilt the final outcome in the direction of the home team

The Steelers have dominated the Browns over the last 40 years or so as no other series in the history of the NFL. The current Browns, for example, have won only one regular-season game there (way back in '03). 

I remember that game well. I was lying in agony in a hospital bed trying to pass a kidney stone, watching in total disbelief as Tim Couch imitated Otto Graham and the defense stifled the Pittsburgh offense in a 33-13 demolition. 

The Steelers made Ben Roethlisberger their top draft pick in the 2004 college draft and the rest is . . . well, you know where this is going. The big guy from Lima, Ohio, made the Browns his personal toy,  accounting for the major share of the misery Browns Nation has suffered.

It has reached the point where Browns fans all but forfeit the victory to the Steelers in their minds because they know all too well something will happen to affect the outcome in the Steelers' favor. A flag here, a costly missed assignment there. Think blown coverages and missed open-field tackles.

I originally was going to share some gaudy stats about how one-sided this rivalry became. It's time to stop beating Browns fans over the head with all the spectacular statistics the Steelers have compiled against them over the last half century. Only one his time.

Mike Tomlin has been the Steelers' head coach since 2007. Monday night will be his 17th regular-season home game against the Browns. He is unbeaten in the first 16. That 48-37 shocker over the Steelers in the 2020 season was a wild-card playoff game.

So what can we expect from the Browns this time? Arriving in Pittsburgh with a 1-0 record is a good start.  Being reasonably healthy helps, too. The mind-set after the 24-3 victory in the season opener seems to have resonated all week long at practice.

Right now, this is an extremely confident team. But there are enough members still around who know what it's like to play in Pittsburgh and the pitfalls that await. Yes, the Steelers were scorched last Sunday in their season debut by the San Francisco 49ers, but that was then and these are the Browns.

You never know, for example, when second-year Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett will go all- Roethlisberger and torch an unsuspecting victim. Or Nick Chubb,  who never fumbles, will be stripped of the ball at a critical juncture. Or if Dawand Jones performs like a rookie offensive tackle against Steelers superstar linebacker T. J. Watt.

Dustin Hopkins debuted as the new kicker for the Browns against the Bengals and was perfect on three field goals. Who's to say he doesn't turn into Cade York for this game? Or sure-handed Donovan Peoples-Jones muffs and loses a punt deep in Cleveland territory late in a close game. 

This is Pittsburgh. Do not forget that.

When the Browns play in Pittsburgh, I have seen way too many bizarre occurrences that cause a Browns loss. I won't believe victory has been achieved until there are zeroes on the scoreboard clock. Even in that playoff victory, the feeling was so surreal, it took a moment or two for belief to set in.

Oh, one more fact regarding this game. The Steelers last lost a Monday night game at home on Oct. 10, 1991. That unbeaten streak now stands at 20 games and includes victories over the old Browns in 1995 and reborn Browns in 2002.

Until all that changes, there is no way I can pick against the Steelers, who unbelievably are 2.5-point dogs at home. The Browns are truly the better team now. But the visiting team, despite being the better team here,  does not always win in Pittsburgh on a Monday night. But it'll be close. Make it:

Steelers 19, Browns 17