Steelers’ Zach Banner takes direct shot at Browns on Twitter by referencing 2017 winless season

There’s no love lost between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns.

The AFC North rivalry between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers has been relatively tame and one-sided in recent years. But things got very heated once Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett struck Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph in the head with his own helmet in a contest last season. With the beef now renewed, Browns fans are getting pretty testy with Steelers players, thanks to their bloated egos.

On Monday, Steelers offensive lineman Zach Banner decided to hold a question and answer session with fans on Twitter. One Browns fan got wind of it, and asked Banner if he was ready to go winless against Cleveland in 2020 just like last season. That was when Banner dropped the mic by saying he knows what it’s like to not get a win, since he was a member of the 0-16 Browns back in 2017.

Shots. Fired.

Banner isn’t taking any guff from Browns fans

Cleveland earned the nickname of the “Factory of Sadness” for the team’s constant presence on the wrong side of NFL history. But the 2017 season provided a special kind of pain and despair for the Browns fanbase.

The team was brutal under head coach Hue Jackson and was blown out on a weekly basis. But their closest game came in the regular season finale against, ironically, the Steelers. Cleveland was so close to potentially winning the game, but failed to do so after a fourth down pass to wide receiver Corey Coleman went right through his hands, making the 0-16 campaign official.

Since then, the Browns are a way better team. While they didn’t make the playoffs this past season, they did get a moral victory in the form of splitting their series with the Steelers. Granted, the Steelers didn’t have quarterback Ben Roethlisberger due to his being sidelined with an elbow injury, but a win is a win.

Expect Banner and the Steelers to be heavily motivated to turn the Browns into divisional punching bags just like in the past. But they must beware, because Cleveland could be a sneaky good team in 2020.