The AFC North title is on the line this Sunday for both the Steelers (6-2) and the Browns (5-3) and Pittsburgh is (Yikes!) 4-0 at home this year - so the kids on the Cuyahoga certainly have their work cut out for them on the shores of the Three Rivers, to be sure. But even though the Steelers are widely considered to be the premiere “#3” team behind the Patriots and the Colts in the AFC, the up-and-coming Cleveland Browns are no longer the dreary doormats in the North either (Thank you, Cincinnati Bengals!) - they are just lacking a little thing called “defense.”  D'oh!

So do the once-toothless Cleveland Browns and their long-suffering fans (those beloved bone-waving bumpkins I call my own) have a slight chance (or not a chance) against their bitter rivals - whose owner at that time, Dan Rooney, once urged Steelers’ fans to wear orange armbands for a final "farewell" game at Three Rivers Stadium (after awful Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore) to honor this rivalry?  Maybe, maybe not.

It’s going to be rough. It's gonna be tough.  It might come down to Santonio Holmes vs. Braylon Edwards. It might come down to Willie Parker vs. the seemingly feeble run defense of the Cleveland Browns (magically springing to life like their mascot, Brownie the Elf, we C-Town fans hope). It might come down to “Turkey” Jones pile-driving Ben Roethlisberger into the Pittsburgh turf like Terry Bradshaw (Well, no, maybe not that - because, again, this isn’t tennis) to even give the Brownies a slim chance at victory.

Whatever the case, the Steelers are swinging hard at the Browns who are barking hard on their heels in the AFC North. Win or lose, here is the worst case scenario: Both teams are on the rise (once-again) in the NFL community and there is nothing wrong with that, no matter what side of the turnpike you reside (although I would trade “a good dental plan“ for a Super Bowl ring on any given day).

Either way, it’s time to see what these Cleveland Browns are all about at Pittsburgh this Sunday. Cheers (Damn it, put DOWN that chardonnay, "new" Cleveland!) to one of the best rivalries in sports: The Browns vs. the Steelers (God, how I love to hate you guys!).