PITTSBURGH — The Browns is the Browns.

I believe the poet JuJu Smith-Shakespeare coined that immortal phrase. Truer words have never been spoken.

If I may exercise my literary interpretation skills, JuJu likely meant that the Cleveland Browns have been uniquely pathetic since they rejoined the NFL in 1999.

He was right, and I'll add this: They have never been more pathetic than right now. Just look at 'em.

Team owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam sold the franchise's soul to a problematic quarterback who can't play. They might never live down the fact that they traded for Deshaun Watson amid a slew of disturbing accusations and signed him to maybe the worst contract in sports history (they owe him $92 million over the next two seasons).

Even since they signed Watson, the Browns have learned that they are better off with virtually anybody else at quarterback, whether it's Jacoby Brissett, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Joe Flacco or Jameis Winston.

The Haslams ruined everything, all right, and after a brief renaissance featuring two playoff appearances in four years, the Browns ... well ... the Browns is the Browns again. They have been outscored 62-24 in their past two games to drop to 2-8 going into Thursday's game against the 8-2 Steelers.

Shoot, Ben Roethlisberger's still taking shots at the Browns, who famously passed on him in favor of a tight end in the 2004 draft. On his podcast this week, Roethlisberger's co-host asked him about the Ravens and whether beating them so often these days would get in his head and impact his prep work on game week.

"No, no, no," Roethlisberger said. "It's not like you're playing Cleveland, right? Did I say that out loud?"

Yes, Ben. Yes you did. And we get it: The Browns are simply not a franchise you want to lose to, ever, under any circumstances — and the circumstances will be challenging Thursday because the Steelers are coming off a brutally physical game against the Ravens and because the Browns still have talent and will likely approach the game like the Super Bowl (not that they would have any idea what a Super Bowl is like; they've never been).

The Steelers hardly ever lose to the Browns. They're 40-11-1 against them since Cleveland rejoined the league. But that's probably why the losses stand out. They're so traumatizing — wait, did we just lose to the Browns? — that they can prompt change.

Take last year's game in Cleveland, for example. If you haven't already blocked the memory, Browns fans were chanting "D-T-R! D-T-R!" when Thompson-Robinson ran onto the field with a little more than a minute left. He then marched his team to a field goal for a 13-10 win in which the sickly Steelers offense managed just one touchdown, went 3 for 14 on third down and accumulated all of 249 yards.

The level of shame was apparently so profound that it prompted the Steelers to part with 82 years of tradition. They hadn't replaced a coach or coordinator in the middle of a season since 1941 until they announced the firing of offensive coordinator Matt Canada two days later.

Since that event, the Steelers are 12-5, despite some bad losses in the immediate aftermath of the DTR debacle. The Browns are 6-11. The Steelers went out and found a real offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith and improved themselves at quarterback. The Browns came back with Watson as the unchallenged starter this season.

A loss Thursday likely won't prompt drastic measures from the Steelers, but it wouldn't be good, either, especially if they fancy themselves the AFC's No. 1 seed.

Oh, who's kidding who? A loss would be horrifying, because losses to the Cleveland Browns always are.

Consider five others from recent history ...

Sept. 22, 2022 (Thursday night), FirstEnergy Stadium: Browns 29, Steelers 17

Storyline: The Steelers were held to three second-half points and gouged for 374 yards by a Brissett-led offense.

Upshot: Basically the end for Mitch Trubisky as the Steelers' starting quarterback. He would be pulled at halftime of the next game.

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Jan. 10, 2021, Heinz Field, playoffs: Browns 48, Steelers 37.

Storyline: Playing without head coach Kevin Stefanski (home with COVID), the Browns handed the Steelers one of the most humiliating defeats in franchise history, jumping to a 28-0 first-quarter lead.

Upshot: Proved to be the final game for several prominent Steelers, including Maurkice Pouncey, Stephon Tuitt, James Conner, Bud Dupree (who was injured and did not play) and offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. Led to massive uncertainty as to whether Roethlisberger would return for one more season, which he did on a large pay cut.

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Nov. 14, 2019, FirstEnergy Stadium (Thursday night): Browns 21, Steelers 7.

Storyline: A hideous showing for the Steelers in a game marred by Myles Garrett attacking Mason Rudolph with Rudolph's helmet.

Upshot: Not long after the Browns and Garrett apologized to Rudolph in team-released statements, Garrett suddenly claimed that Rudolph had used a racial slur during the incident. Rudolph denied the charge, calling it a "reckless attempt to assassinate my character." Mike Tomlin also vehemently denied Garrett's claim, saying, "If Mason said what Myles claimed, it would have come out during the many interactions I had with those in the Browns' organization. In my conversations, I had a lot of expressions of sorrow for what transpired. I received no indication of anything racial or anything of that nature in those interactions."

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Oct. 12, 2014, FirstEnergy Stadium: Browns 31, Steelers 10

Storyline: Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer went just 8 for 17 but for 217 yards in a brutal loss for the Steelers.

Upshot: It looked like the Browns had some Hoyer magic going, but they wound up in last place in the AFC North, while the Steelers won it at 11-5.

I'll skip the losses to Brandon Weeden and Tim Couch and get right to maybe the worst recent one of all, aside from the playoff meltdown — and it was the first of three Thursday night debacles:

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Dec. 10, 2009, Cleveland Browns Stadium: Browns 13, Steelers 6.

Storyline: Brady Quinn won only four games in his NFL career. This was one of them — and he went 6-of-19 for 90 yards. Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians thought it was a great idea to attempt 32 passes in a windstorm, and the Steelers sadly managed only two Jeff Reed field goals.

Upshot: This was part of the Steelers' infamous "unleash hell" meltdown. Tomlin promised his team would do just that in December, but it instead opened the month by losing to the hideous Raiders and Browns. Oh, and 15 years later, Quinn is now calling for the Browns to trade for Tomlin.

Good idea, Brady. I hear Deshaun Watson's available.

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