There was some chatter in the Steelers locker room after their ho-hum, 23-9 win against the Browns. It was more about their next game, Thursday night at Cincinnati, where they’ll face an old nemesis in quarterback Joe Flacco.

Did Cleveland ship him in-state just to make life harder on the team atop the AFC North? Probably not, but the Steelers would never dream of making a move that could help a bitter rival stay afloat. And the Browns trading Flacco to the Bengals was a microcosm of the two franchises that lined it up Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.

One’s always accused of having tunnel vision on the current season, arguably to its detriment. The other always seems to be playing for next year, and the Browns had to pay the price for it.

Rookie Dillon Gabriel made his second start in place

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