The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns will go head to head on Sunday in Week 1 of the NFL 2018 regular season. The season opener for both teams takes place today at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, and has a scheduled start time of 1 p.m. ET. The game can be watched on TV on the CBS network, or online through live stream (details below).
These two teams will be familiar with one another, and this will be the 129th meeting between the pair in the regular season. Through the all time series, the Steelers have the upper hand winning 70 compared to the Browns 58.
Worryingly for the Browns, they have never defeated Ben Roethlisberger at home. In ten games against him at home they are 0-10, and that does not bode well for them here today.
Making his NFL professional debut today is Browns' rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer, and that no doubt will lead the Steelers to put a lot of effort into getting right up in his face and applying as much pressure as possible. Kizer certainly is a talented quarterback and has a big arm, however, he also has some clear weaknesses that were seen through his time with the Fighting Irish, and it will be interesting to see how he develops at the top level this season.
Roethlisberger meanwhile will be extremely confident. Overall he has a personal 20-2 record against the Browns and a 95.8 passer rating against them.
Earlier this week the Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots started their season against the Kansas City Chiefs, and prior to the game many were hailing the Patriots as a team potentially capable of a "perfect season".
However, it seems New England wanted to get any pressure associated with that record off their shoulders from the start as they capitulated in the fourth quarter to lose the game 27-42.
The game had been a tight one until the final quarter. At the end of the first there was nothing separating the teams as things were deadlocked on 7-7. Either side of half time, the Patriots nudged their way into the lead, winning each quarter 10-7, to head into the fourth with a healthy six point lead.
Many had expected the Patriots to turn the screw in the fourth and power on to victory. However, nothing can be further from the truth, as the Chiefs were the ones who exploded into life, scoring 21 unanswered points in the final quarter to post an overwhelming 42-27 scoreline.
Kareem Hunt was one hero for the Chiefs on Thursday night. He fumbled on his first ever NFL carry, and others may have allowed that to affect their confidence. Not Hunt. He went on to score three times and recorded an amazing 239 yards on his pro debut which is the highest for an NFL debut since the 1970 merger.
Chiefs' coach Andy Reid revealed just how much the win meant to Kansas City, as he said after the game: "We're going to enjoy the heck out of it."
However, he also put the win in perspective, adding, "It's one of 16 and something to build on."
Reid spoke about Hunt's amazing debut: "It started out just a little bit shaky, but it was all heart. He was trying too hard."
Revealing just what an accomplishment the Chiefs had achieved, Alex Smith became the first quarterback to pile on 300-plus yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions against Patriots' coach Bill Belichick. The Chiefs' 42 points were also the most New England have allowed under Belichick in his 17-plus seasons with the Patriots.
This was also the first time the Patriots had lost at the Gillette Stadium after leading at half-time, which was a record that spanned an impressive 82 games.
In reaction to their disappointing loss, quarterback Tom Brady said afterwards, "I just think we need to have more urgency and go out there and perform a lot better. It's a winning attitude, a championship attitude you have to bring every day. We had it handed to us on our own field."
Smith said of Hunt: "To start on your first carry like that and have it go like that, it would be hard to overcome for a lot of guys. I thought it was awesome coach coming right back to him. There was a good chunk there where we were going as Kareem was going. He was really a big chunk of the offense tonight. For a young guy, we put a lot on him, in all facets of the offense tonight, and he was able to handle it."
Today's game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns has a scheduled start time of 1 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the CBS network. The game can also be watched online through live stream by clicking here.
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