Wait, it gets worse. After Monday in the Rocky Mountains, the Browns must now descend to Appalachia and face off against the dreaded Steelers, making our webdork anxious and paranoid. Or more so. It’s the Newswire.

What we need here, my friends, is a sense of urgency. I warned you about this. I did.

It’s Wednesday already, and we’re just a few days away from a re-match with the noxious Pittsburgh Steelers on their home field. It’s a game where the yinzers hope to exact vengeance for a nationally-televised loss to our beloved Browns in a veritable snow globe at Cleveland Browns Corporate Name Stadium. With that loss fresh in their minds, the Steelers get the Browns after a short week flying back across the country from Denver.

It’s not the best set-up for our beloved Brownies.

Sigh. Under normal circumstances, it would appear that the schedule makers and fates have conspired to set up a blow-out joyride for Mike Tomlin and crew this Sunday afternoon against our 3-9 Browns.

Sure, the Browns are saying the right things about the challenge of a short week being reduced somewhat by playing an opponent they’ve already prepared for. Still, they acknowledge the challenge of being a division rival twice.

This one will be a particular challenge.

While the Browns managed to explode offensively against one of the NFL’s top-ranked defenses on Monday, the Steelers seem to have rediscovered their passing attack as well, with Russell Wilson flinging the ball for 414 yards and three touchdowns against the Bengals, finding ten different receivers in the process. Compared to the Browns anemic rushing attack against Denver, the Steelers ran for over 100 yards, led by Najee Harris. The sudden offensive explosion has some reconsidering whether the 9-3 Steelers might not be Super Bowl material, after all.

Defensively, the Steelers are helped by the return of T.J. Watt’s partner in quarterback torment, Alex Highsmith, who can be expected to match up against left tackle. At the same time, Watt is left to exploit the generally weaker right tackle position and practice Rockette kicks afterward, assuming he can get time off from his busy commercial filming schedule.

Meanwhile, the Steelers have plenty of motivation to win this game. They have a somewhat thin 1.5-game advantage over the Baltimore Ratbirds in the AFC North and are playing for as much home-field advantage as they can get in the playoffs. They’re currently a game behind the Bills and two behind the Chiefs. Add that to the motivation to avenge their nationally-televised loss to the then 2-8 Browns, and they will be plenty motivated in front of their spoiled, hankie-waving, largely toothless crowd of fans on Sunday afternoon.

I don’t know about you, but I already have a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach, which, admittedly, might have something to do with that triple pepperoni pizza I had for dinner last night. But it might also have something to do with this game and a desire to see the Browns continue to play with the competitive fire we’ve seen despite their 3-9 record.

The objective, after all, continues to be the same: don’t death spiral and give the Powers That Be (and Spend) the opportunity to override the front office’s professionals in planning for this team’s future. This team must finish the season on the best note possible despite the hazardous schedule and the sins of the recent Watsonian past. I won’t cry myself to sleep if we lose a close game to fall to 3-10 in a lost season, but I want a very competitive, solid showing on Sunday despite the challenge created by the schedule makers.