It’s impossible to measure exactly how much the crowd affects an NFL game. But you know it when you see it and feel it, which was the case Thursday night when the Cleveland Browns played the Pittsburgh Steelers at Huntington Bank Field.
Browns fans were ready from the start and continued until the final whistle, helping the team to a 27-24 victory over their long-time rivals. It was the most satisfying win of the past few years and pointed to the fact that this season is going to be better than anyone expected.
The scene even earned praise from an opposing head coach, as Mike McCarthy made honest confessions about the Browns and their fans after the game.
“This is the best environment I’ve played in this stadium in my time in the league,” McCarthy said.
“This is the best environment I’ve played in this stadium in my time in the league,” Steelers coach Mike McCarthy told the crowd at Huntington Bank Field tonight.
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) October 2, 2026
A native of Pittsburgh, McCarthy has been in the NFL since 1993 when he was an assistant coach with the Kansas City Chiefs. Once known as Cleveland Browns Stadium, the stadium opened in 1999, so the 62-year-old has played in the league for his entire existence.
McCarthy, known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers and later the Dallas Cowboys, has never been a division rival of the Browns, but his words still carry some weight. His first experience of a Browns-Steelers rivalry didn’t go his way, but that didn’t stop him from appreciating the atmosphere Thursday night.
In fact, Cleveland fans have almost become the story of a team that is 3-1 for the first time since 2001 and in first place in the AFC North. After booing and then being criticized by Deshaun Watson during the preseason, they were ready to start the troubled quarterback at the first opportunity.
Instead, Watson completely changed that narrative with two game-winning drives in the last five days. A fourth-quarter touchdown pass on Sunday led the Browns to a 21-18 win against the Carolina Panthers and then orchestrated a field-goal drive for a 27-24 win against the Steelers.
Now, fans can’t wait to see him and the Browns back home when they host the rival Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Oct. 18.
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