Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cleveland Browns Prediction, Preview and Odds - 10/01/2026

Game Time: 8:15 pm ET, Thursday, October 1, 2026

Venue:  Huntington Bank Field, Cleveland, OH

Where to Watch:  Prime Video

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Steelers -2.5, Browns +2.5; Over/Under:  38.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Steelers -2.5, Browns +2.5; Over/Under:  38.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Steelers -2.5, Browns +2.5; Over/Under:  38.5 points

Pittsburgh Steelers:  2-1 (1st place, AFC North)

Cleveland Browns:  2-1 (1st place, AFC North)

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Pittsburgh Steelers:  won their last game at home against the Cincinnati Bengals 30-27.

Cleveland Browns:  won their last game at home against the Carolina Panthers 21-18.

The Steelers are entering this game with a 2-1 record overall and they have a 1-0 record in their divisional games too. They are 2-0 in their home games, 0-1 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be on the road for this game. They won their last game against the Cincinnati Bengals 30-27. Aaron Rodgers was the starting QB and he completed 19/34 passes for 292 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Jaylen Warren led the team in rushing yards with 127. Darnell Washington led the receivers with 67 receiving yards on 3 receptions. Patrick Queen led the defense in that game with 13 solo tackles while Derrick Harmon led the defense in sacks with 1. No one on the defense came away with an interception for them in that one.

 

 

 

The Browns are entering this game with a 2-1 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their divisional games too. They are 1-0 in their home games, 1-1 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at home for this game. They won their last game against the Carolina Panthers 21-18. Deshaun Watson was the starting QB and he completed 16/30 passes for 144 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Quinshon Judkins led the team in rushing yards with 70. Harold Fannin Jr. led the receivers with 51 receiving yards on 7 receptions and 2 TDs. Quincy Williams led the defense in that game with 9 solo tackles while Mason Graham led the defense in sacks with 2. Ronnie Hickman came away with the only interception for them in that one.

The current betting odds have the Steelers listed as a 2.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Steelers have looked good in their games this season with their 2-1 record overall which has them right near the top of the AFC North. They haven't been a good road team though with their 0-1 road record this year. Meanwhile, the Browns have looked good in their games this season with their 2-1 record overall which has them right near the top of the AFC North. They have looked good on their home field too with their 1-0 home record this season. The Browns are coming off a 21-18 win over the Panthers in their home opener and their defense has looked a lot better since getting blown out by the Jags in week 1. They have a lot of talent on that defense that has been keeping them in games and Watson has been doing enough to put up points in this offense, but Watson definitely hasn't been great. He looked good against the Bucs in week 2, but he wasn't that great against the Panthers last week, just doing enough to not make mistakes. They didn't win that game because of him though and that isn't going to be sustainable with his inconsistency. The Steelers didn't look great in their first 2 games of the season, barely beating a bad Falcons team at home and then getting embarrassed by a Patriots team that has looked terrible this season. Now the Steelers are off a 30-27 win over the Bengals in their last one and that offense actually looked good. They finally found a decent rushing attack to help Rodgers out and the defense has been playing at a really high level all year. This is a really important game that could separate who actually is a contender in this division and the Browns did win their only home game while the Steelers lost their only road game, but the Steelers still have the more talented roster on both sides of the ball and are the more trusted team here to win what could be a big game in the division. The best way to place a bet here is on the Steelers to cover the spread in this game. 

Steelers Browns Prediction:  Our NFL Pick for Thursday, October 1, 2026 (8:15 pm ET start time) is Steelers 20 Browns 17.

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Pittsburgh Steelers: 6-3 ATS on the road in games where the line is +3 to -3. 33-22 ATS on the road off a home win against a division rival. 7-3 UNDER off an upset win as an underdog. 

Cleveland Browns: 14-23 ATS in all games. 5-11 ATS after playing a game at home. 3-8 ATS when playing against a good team (Win Pct. 60% to 75%). 8-1 UNDER as a home underdog of 7 points or less.

Pittsburgh Steelers:  B. Echols (CB) Injured - Concussion. J. Ramsey (CB) Injured - Wrist. R. Dowdle (RB) Injured - Toe. J. Porter Jr. (CB) Injured - NIR - Conditioning.

Cleveland Browns:  E. Jenkins (OG) Injured - Concussion. T. Wallace (WR) Injured - Knee. T. Campbell (CB) Injured - Knee. G. Delpit (S) Injured - Shoulder. T. Howard (OT) Injured - Knee. T. Jenkins (OG) Injured - Back.

“I think resilience is critical to any, any type of success, whether it’s playing one division game (or) overcoming a loss last week.” - Mike McCarthy after his team’s win against the Bengals in their last game. 

“He probably didn’t play as well as he wanted. But to get knocked down, come back and make a play, then a 2-point conversion, this is about him. I’m really happy for him.” - Todd Monken after his team’s win against the Panthers in their last game. 

WR Metcalf, DK

WR Pittman Jr., Michael

WR Wilson, Roman

TE Freiermuth, Pat

QB Rodgers, Aaron

RB Warren, Jaylen

FB Nowakowski, Riley

WR Boston, Denzel

WR Jeudy, Jerry

WR Concepcion, KC

TE Fannin Jr., Harold

QB Watson, Deshaun

RB Judkins, Quinshon

FB Burton, Michael

Passing: Aaron Rodgers (700)

Rushing: Jaylen Warren (216)

Receiving: Roman Wilson (114)

Touchdowns: Pat Freiermuth (1)

Passing: Deshaun Watson (587)

Rushing: Quinshon Judkins (124)

Receiving: Denzel Boston (195)

Touchdowns: Denzel Boston (2)

Coaches:

Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy (1st season)

Cleveland Browns: Todd Monken (1st season)