Pittsburgh Steelers, fans not rattled by anti-Terrible Towels - ESPN

AS HALFTIME DREW to a close of the Pittsburgh Steelers' pivotal Week 10 game at the Washington Commanders, the public address system at Northwest Stadium crackled to life with a directive to fans: cheer on the home team by waving the burgundy towels.

And though the team distributed north of 40,000 rally towels to fans as they entered the stadium on Nov. 10, Commanders fans were quickly engulfed by a pulsing yellow wave as visiting Steelers fans instinctually raised their own towels and vigorously twirled them as they'd done so many times before.

«All you saw were Terrible Towels,» said Steelers fan Ryan Gray, who attended the game with a friend. «You did not see their burgundy towels at all. It was nothing but Terrible Towels. I just don't know why you would poke the bear.

»There's no more deliberate challenge than them saying over the PA system, 'Hey, we handed out towels before the game, let's see those towels.' And then you blink and you see a sea of yellow towels twirling."

Opposing teams have long tried to mitigate Steelers fans and their towel takeovers, but so far, nothing's worked. And while the anti-Terrible Towel phenomenon isn't a new one, the frequency this season has been unusual. In five road games through Week 11, four home teams distributed rally towels or flags.

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The Steelers are 4-0 in those games and their lone road loss was against a towel-less Colts crowd. The Cleveland Browns passed out rally towels for their Salute to Service game earlier this month, so they aren't likely to distribute more Thursday night against the Steelers (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video).

«Fans are very