The Cleveland Browns are taking part in another Victory Monday after beating the Tennessee Titans 27-24 in Week 7 to move to 5-2, and a big AFC North showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers is up next.

The Browns will travel to face the Steelers on Sunday, their second meeting already this season. Pittsburgh also handled its business in Week 7 with a win over the New Orleans Saints. That sets up a matchup between two 5-2 teams at the top of the AFC North. It’s a game that should be in primetime, and the NFL’s decision not to flex it into Sunday Night Football now looks like a bad one.

Browns and Steelers already delivered in primetime

The first meeting between these two teams came on Thursday Night Football in Week 4. The game was in Cleveland, the environment was great, and the Browns came away with a 27-24 win. It lived up to everything fans could have expected from a primetime divisional game.

The rematch should bring more of the same. Pittsburgh should provide a strong environment on Sunday, and both teams are doing a lot of good things right now. That’s a recipe for another good game between two clubs fighting for first place in the division.

NFL didn’t flex Browns-Steelers into Sunday Night Football

According to multiple reports, there was interest in flexing the Browns-Steelers game into Week 8 Sunday Night Football. It made sense, but the league kept the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders in that slot because of CBS not releasing the game.

The Eagles are 2-4 with a Monday Night Football game still pending, and the Commanders are 1-4-1. That’s a matchup between two teams that have been poor this season to say the least. The NFL had a chance to replace it with a game between two winning teams with a combined 10-4 record at the top of the AFC North.

With the Browns and Steelers both winning in Week 7, the decision not to flex looks even worse. The league could have put its biggest Sunday spotlight on a game with real stakes. Instead, it stuck with a matchup between two teams that have struggled to find their footing.

Browns haven’t been in this spot often

Cleveland hasn’t played on Sunday Night Football since November 2021, when it lost to the Baltimore Ravens. That’s a long stretch away from one of the league’s biggest stages.

Through seven weeks, it hasn’t been often that the Browns find themselves in a legit divisional race nearing the midpoint of the season. Cleveland also doesn’t look like a team that’s going to sell off at the trade deadline, and that hasn’t happened much lately. A Sunday night slot against the Steelers would have been a fitting reward for the start the Browns have put together.

It won’t be easy for Cleveland to go into Pittsburgh and pick up a season sweep. Still, the Browns and Steelers will settle things on Sunday, just not on the national stage the game deserved. It’s a missed opportunity by the NFL and a move that makes zero sense.