Steelers/NFL
Steelers 24 – Browns 9
The good for the Steelers is they care of business against a dismal football team in the Cleveland Browns to improve to 5-5 on the season.
They also got some needed help on the scoreboard as the Ravens (5-5) lost to Dallas and the Bengals (3-6-1) season continues to slip away with a bad home loss to the Bills (5-5).
The Ravens and Steelers are now tied in the division with a 5-5 record.
Big Stats Day for Steelers D
The defense was able to pad a lot of stats.
Entering the game with 13 sacks on the season, Pittsburgh had 8 sacks from six different players.
Stephon Tuitt led the way with 2.5 sacks, Arthur Moats 1.5 sacks, while James Harrison, Javon Hargrave, Lawrence Timmons, Ryan Shazier each had one sack.
Pittsburgh sacked Browns QB’s Cody Kessler and Josh McCown each four times, one resulting in a touchdown on a Ryan Shazier strip sack of McCown in the fourth quarter where Javon Hargrave recovered for a Steelers touchdown.
Artie Burns also had an interception on the Browns first drive of the game.
The Steelers showed some different disguised schemes with Lawrence Timmons pressuring often from the outside that Cleveland running backs struggled to combat. At times it looked like a high school running back was trying to block Timmons.
It was an easy game to become more aggressive because of the opponent and the quarterback under center.
Everything the Steelers defense did today comes with an asterisk because of the opponent.
Let’s talk after Thursday night against Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts.
Struggles to score points on the road continues
Bad weather conditions or not, the offense only mustering up one touchdown against this Browns team was most concerning out of the loss.
And the Steelers lone touchdown came when they scored eight points with no time on the clock at the end of the first half and they were given a couple gifts as in typical Browns fashion, Cleveland committed two penalties to give the Steelers two untimed downs that led to the touchdown.
Ben Roethlisberger was limited to 167 passing yards, completing 23 of 36 passes. The positive in the passing game was the Steelers O-line keeping him clean.
Pittsburgh had the right game plan against this Browns team and the weather conditions to ride Le’Veon Bell who rushed 26 times for 146 yards and a touchdown. Bell touched the ball 33 times in the first three quarters as the Steelers put together four drives of 10 or more plays through three quarters.
Still, this is a points business and for the Steelers to put together a true playoff push, this offense has to start showing an ability to put touchdowns on the board when playing on the road.
The offense has scored 17 points or less in their last four road games where the Steelers have a 1-3 record during that span.
17 Points vs Cleveland
14 Points vs Ravens
15 Points vs Dolphins
3 Points vs Eagles.
That 38 point outing from the offense in Week 1 is a long-time ago.
Player Notes/Tidbits
— It was obviously just the Browns, but Lawrence Timmons was a beast on the field today. One of the hardest hitting games he’s had this year with 8 tackles, 1 sack, 3 QB hits, 5 QB pressures and 1 forced fumble. Timmons has had some poor moments this season when he gets beat in coverage on bad matchups with RB’s but he’s having a much stronger year than he’s given credit for.
— Ladarius Green was a non-factor with 0 catches on two targets. Second straight week where he failed to come up with a grab in traffic, looks like a player scared to take a hit.
— The Steelers have had plenty of opportunities the past couple years to sign or trade for Terrell Pryor who has a close relationship with Mike Tomlin. Kevin Colbert [hide] was never a fan, sources say.
Pryor who had a game-high 97 receiving yards, would be the Steelers surefire No. 2 receiver right now.
— Any Sammie Coates impact these days comes from special teams where he had three special teams tackles. He continues to barely see the field on offense as Cobi Hamilton has surpassed him on the depth chart and is the Steelers go-to receiver in blocking situations.
— Ross Cockrell continues to struggle with big physical receivers as Terrell Pryor was too much for him to handle. Despite some of the flashes that Artie Burns is showing, his gaffe on the Gary Barnridge touchdown is why the Steelers often to seem to have try to hide their secondary with a zone that becomes problematic against good teams because when they’re not playing the Browns, Pittsburgh can’t rush the QB.
— After getting a league-high eight sacks today, what are the odds on the Steelers getting eight sacks total over their final six games?
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Related posts:
Ravens put pressure on Steelers with 20-10 win over Browns
Week 1 Steelers – Browns Fallout: Offense proves Training Camp reps matter
Post-Game: Steelers close out regular season with 13-9 win over Browns
Steelers-Browns Fallout: Signficant Coaching Advantage plays out, Devlin Hodges/Deep Passing Game & a Special Defensive Unit
