Week One of any NFL season will always be chock full of storylines and, in most cases, optimism for competing for a championship. Never without high expectations, the Pittsburgh Steelers (8-8 in 2013) aim to end a two-year playoff drought and break a streak of two consecutive 8-8 seasons. Opposing them at Heinz Field Sunday will be the Cleveland Browns, who are just looking for some respect and an upset to perhaps spark a season of improvement and optimism.
The Browns have a new head coach for the third straight year as Mike Pettine comes from the Buffalo Bills, where he spent one year as defensive coordinator. Before that, he was Rex Ryan’s defensive coordinator in New York for four years. He is an eastern Pennsylvania native and spent two years as a graduate assistant for the University of Pittsburgh football program (1993-94). He replaces Rob Chudzinski, who was fired after the Browns went 4-12 last season.
Pettine’s quarterback will be Cleveland native Brian Hoyer, who backed up Tom Brady in New England for three seasons before signing with the Steelers in 2012 when Ben Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich had suffered injuries. He never played a down as the backup to Charlie Batch for two weeks.
Hoyer played three games last season, after he replaced starter Brandon Weeden and surpassed Jason Campbell on the depth chart, and the Browns won them all. A season-ending knee injury, however, derailed his season and spoiled a promising start for Cleveland. The job is his despite the addition of former Heisman Trophy winner and Texas A&M star Johnny “Football” Manziel, who was drafted late in the first round. A brief quarterback competition in the preseason was rather quickly disspelled when Hoyer was named starter, but the pressure will be on the first-year starter to battle through a tough early schedule and keep Manziel on the sidelines.
For Pittsburgh, facing a team with such uncertainty should be a welcome start to the season. Cleveland’s top passer (Campbell), rusher (Willis McGahee) and receiver (Josh Gordon, who led the NFL in receiving yardage) from last season will not be on the field. Campbell and McGahee are gone and Gordon has been suspended for the season. Gordon had a whopping 319 receiving yards against the Steelers in the two games last season, so his presence will be especially missed in this matchup.
Pittsburgh surely remembers the upset loss they suffered to a medicore Tennessee Titans team at home in Week One last year, which launched an 0-4 start and dug a hole they could not get out of as they pushed too late for a playoff berth. Mike Tomlin’s squad did finish 8-4 last year and will look to brush off a forgettable preseason, highlighted by drug charges and a DUI bust for top rushers Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount. The pair have apparently been disciplined internally and the league has not levied any additional punishment, at least yet, so they are expected to play.
Defensive rookies Ryan Shazier and Stephon Tuitt and running back Dri Archer will be among those making debuts in NFL action that counts, while newcomers Mike Mitchell (replacing Ryan Clark at safety), Blount and receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey will also play. Veteran receiver Lance Moore may not get to debut as a Steeler in this game, though he has not yet been officially ruled out due to injury.
Cleveland has only defeated Pittsburgh once in the past four seasons over eight meetings and not in Pittsburgh since October 5, 2003 in a 33-13 triumph against an unusually bad Steelers team that would finish 6-10 that season. Pittsburgh won both matchups last season, 27-11 at Cleveland in Week 12 and 20-7 in Pittsburgh to end the season. Sunday’s duel will set the tone for the victor. A Cleveland loss would give them the typical feeling of having to climb uphill, a step behind the stiff AFC North competition. A Cleveland win would be a major step in the right direction for a franchise stuck in limbo, while a loss for Pittsburgh would surely stir up all kinds of controversy and questions regarding the leadership and direction of the franchise.
When: Sunday, September 7, 2014 – 1:00 pm EST
Where: Heinz Field – Pittsburgh, PA
Watch: CBS
Spread: Steelers -7 (via Bovada)
Last Meeting: Pittsburgh won 20-7 in Week 17 at home last season, but needed help to slip into the playoffs. San Diego’s victory later that day eliminated the Steelers despite having finished 6-2 to end the season.
Keys for Pittsburgh:
1) Clamp down on the Browns running game, led by new RB Ben Tate and rookies Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell. If the Steelers force Hoyer to win the game with no Gordon and only tight end Jordan Cameron and a slew of mostly underwhelming receivers, mistakes will be forced.
2) Do not fear Joe Haden and establish Antonio Brown as a force to be reckoned with early and often. Without Emmanuel Sanders, Ben Roethlisberger will need to look for the reliable Heath Miller, as well as Markus Wheaton and whoever else is healthy in the receiving corps. If Moore and rookie Martavis Bryant cannot play, the pickings are a little slimmer.
3) Unleash the speedy and dynamic Dri Archer, especially on special teams and in the short passing game. He should have opportunities to return punts and can cause the Browns defense to always think twice about where he is on the field if they get him the ball in the early going.
Keys for Cleveland:
1) Pittsburgh has struggled to stop elite tight ends in recent years. Jordan Cameron may very well be one of those elite tight ends. If he cannot be contained across the middle and in the red zone, the Browns will move the football all day and put up points.
2) You cannot stop Antonio Brown, you can only hope to contain him. Cleveland must keep one of the league’s new top receivers from running all over the fresh, dry Heinz Field turf on Sunday or he may single-handedly be the difference.
3) Show off a new identity and stop being the Browns, for once. Hoyer is the hometown guy and proved (in a small sample) that he can win in Cleveland. He must lead his troops without Gordon and show Browns fans that he belongs, so that they aren’t calling Manziel’s name by Week Three.
Prediction: The Steelers are better than the Browns, but maybe not by as wide a margin as we are accustomed to in Pittsburgh. If Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor and Cortez Allen mesh well with Mike Mitchell in the secondary and the now youthful pass rush tortures Hoyer, the Steelers will be just fine. I think most of that will happen, with a few hiccups along the way. Pittsburgh will hold on and win 20-16 before a short week sends them packing for Baltimore.
