The Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers are clearly developing a fun and competitive rivalry in the AFC North, and players from both teams appear happy to fuel it.
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was the latest to add intrigue to the rivalry, seemingly taking a shot at Pittsburgh wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool over the AFC Wild Card game.
“It was fun,” Garrett said of the Browns’ 2020 season at a virtual Pro Bowl event Wednesday, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal. “It’s always good to hurt some feelings of some of those Steelers receivers. So we had to get after it. We got a little battle with the Chiefs. All in all, it was a good season. It was fun. But we’re trying to come back and make something special happen next year.”
Smith-Schuster lit a fire under the Browns prior to the playoff game with some inflammatory comments. Claypool continued to be critical of the Browns even after they beat the Steelers. Those are the receivers Garrett is almost certainly referring to here.
These two teams have never particularly liked each other, but the stakes were higher in 2020 as both were competitive in the same season for the first time in a long time. There’s no reason that should change next year, which means more trash talk may be in our future.
