Browns looking to party like it’s 1989

The Cleveland Browns have made a mess of things whenever they have hit the road to play the Pittsburgh Steelers during the past 20-plus years.

Cleveland has only won two regular-season games in Pittsburgh since 1999, with the last victory coming on October 5, 2003, when quarterback Tim Couch led the Browns to a 33-13 win in front of a disbelieving Pittsburgh crowd and a surprised primetime audience.

Related: 3 things to watch for in Browns vs. Steelers on MNF

Since then the Browns have not been able to get out of their own way, losing in just about every way manageable to the Steelers, from close games (four times by four or fewer points) to blowouts (14 times by 10 or more points) and everything in between.

It’s a new season and Monday night, when the Browns take on the Steelers, presents the latest opportunity for the Browns to start to rewrite the narrative.

Related: Scouting the Pittsburgh Steelers with our Q&A with Behind the Steel Curtain

Following their Week 1 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Browns have the opportunity to pick up not only their second AFC North Division win of the season if they take down the Steelers, but also start a season at 2-0 for the first time since 1993.

The Browns are also currently listed as a two-and-a-half-point favorite, according to DraftKings, which if that holds until kickoff will mark the first time the Browns have been a road favorite against the Steelers since 1989, according to The Athletic.

That game came in Week 1, when the Browns rolled over the Steelers by a score of 51-0, dominating the Pittsburgh offense by scoring three defensive touchdowns and having their way with the Steelers defense with three rushing touchdowns.

There is not a single player on the current Browns roster who was alive when that game was played as the two oldest players, safety Rodney McLeod Jr. and long-snapper Charley Hughlett, were both born in 1990.

With that in mind, let’s turn the clock back to 1989 to see what was popular and in the news that year.

Top 5 Movies at the Box Office

• Batman
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Lethal Weapon 2
• Rain Man
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

Top 5 Songs on Billboard 100

• Look Away by Chicago
• My Prerogative by Bobby Brown
• Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison
• Straight Up by Paula Abdul
• Miss You Much by Janet Jackson

Top 5 TV Shows

• The Cosby Show
• Roseanne
• Cheers
• A Different World
• America’s Funniest Home Videos

Notable Events

• The World Wide Web was invented
• The Berlin Wall came down
• The Simpsons debuted
• The first GPS satellite went into orbit
• Nintendo released the Game Boy
• Seinfeld debuted
• The first HDTV broadcast aired in Japan

OK, you get the idea - it was a long time ago.

The Browns signaled their intentions to be a contender within the division with their victory last week against the Bengals. Monday night presents an opportunity to reinforce that if they can finally pick up a win against the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

Do that and it may not be another 34 years until they once again a road favorite, meaning there won’t be a writer doing one of these articles in 2057.

Let us know in the comments - what were you doing in 1989?