It’s a postseason 30 years in the making for the Twin Tiers.
For the first time since the 1989-1990 NFL postseason, the area’s three most popular professional football teams — the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns — are in the playoffs together.
That’s something that has local football fans excited, particularly since the Steelers and Browns are meeting in their Wild Card matchup on Sunday night.
For local Browns fan and former season ticket holder John “Pick” Zimbardi, a Bradford resident, it’s been a long time coming. Cleveland hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2002 — a drought of 17 seasons and the longest in the NFL — but defeated Pittsburgh 24-22 on Sunday to bring that to an end.
“It’s pretty neat, but I’m more happy for my kids. You feel bad for them because you bring them up as Browns fans, and they’ve only known the team to lose. So it’s pretty cool,” Zimbardi said.
Zimbardi’s fanhood with Cleveland dates back to when he was seven years old. The available television channels locally were Nos. 2, 4 and 7, which showed Notre Dame, the Browns and New York Yankees, respectively.
Since then, the 60 year old has been a loyal follower, and hasn’t missed a home opener in each of the past 21 years until COVID-19 forced him to miss this season’s. He attends about half of Cleveland’s eight home games a year.
And for Zimbardi — and all Browns fans — a win over Pittsburgh would be right and fitting, given it was the Steelers who beat Cleveland 36-33 in their last playoff appearance in 2002 to begin the drought.
But, of course, it won’t be easy. The Steelers and Browns split the regular season series. The Steelers are in their first playoff game since falling to Jacksonville, 45-42, in the 2017 postseason.
Factor that in with the division rivalry the Steelers and Browns share, and you have the makings of a hotly contested game.
Bradford resident Dave Fuhrman, who shares season tickets at Heinz Field with a friend, said, “It’s nice to get matched up with Cleveland, since we’re division rivals. There will be no lack of motivation.”
He added with a chuckle, “I’ve been to plenty of Cleveland vs. Pittsburgh games where the hitting in the stands is as hard as the hitting on the field. There’s no love lost between the teams, and Cleveland just beat Pittsburgh to get in. It’ll be interesting to see how the rematch goes.”
Fuhrman, who is originally from suburban Pittsburgh, says the matchup, which kicks off at 8:15 on Sunday night, will come down to a few things: Pittsburgh’s offense being able to score and the defense’s ability to stop Cleveland even with some injuries.
A hopeful Zimbardi added, “It’s exciting that (the Browns) are in there against Pittsburgh, and on any given Sunday you just never know.”
Meanwhile, the Bills are hosting a playoff game for the first time since 1996, and Bradford resident Barry Bacha will be among the 6,700 season ticket holders in attendance. It will mark the first time all season the Bills will host fans.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it,” said Bacha, who last attended a home playoff game in 1991 when the Bills hammered the Raiders 51-3 to make the Super Bowl. “I’m excited to go, and excited to get into the stadium for the first time all season.”
In the Colts, Bacha sees a formidable opponent for the Bills. That’s especially true of quarterback Phillip Rivers and running back Jonathan Taylor.
The potential advantage for Buffalo, he says, is the Colts play in a dome in Indianapolis and temperatures are projected to stay in the low 30s for the game, which kicks off at 1 o’clock.
Bacha also feels the Bills’ offense is humming right now, and that could give Buffalo early momentum.
“I think the pressure is on the Indianapolis defense to stop Buffalo. In the last few weeks, nobody’s done it,” he said. “If the Buffalo defense can get a few stops, hopefully the game could be over by halftime like (against Miami).”
In that Miami game last Sunday, the Bills raced out to a 28-6 lead at the half and then went on to a 56-26 win.
Should Buffalo and Pittsburgh both emerge victorious, the Bills and Steelers would meet for the second time this year. On Dec. 13, the Bills topped Pittsburgh 26-15.
And with so many potential local matchups coming in the postseason, the area is undoubtedly excited.
“I think it’s great for our area that the three NFL teams most locals follow made the playoffs,” Fuhrman said. “It’s going to generate a lot of excitement. The way the matchups worked out, two will play that first weekend and then maybe two will play the second weekend. It’s a great time of the year and great to have these games.”
Added Bacha, “It’s exciting. Good friends of mine are Browns fans and Steelers fans… It’s fun for the area and exciting. It’s definitely something to look forward to.
“We’ll see what happens and hope that things work out (for Buffalo). They have to take care of business themselves first on Saturday.”
