When the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Cleveland Browns in their regular season finale, they will need to get a win and some help if they want to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
After their inexplicable loss to the hapless Baltimore Ravens last week, the Steelers (9-6) go from having complete control of their playoff destiny to now needing the 7-8 Buffalo Bills to knock off the New York Jets in order for the Steelers to sneak into the playoffs as the sixth seed in the AFC.
If the Steelers don’t do their jobs and beat the three-win Browns, nothing that happens in Buffalo will mean a thing.
Will the Steelers finish with a win and Cleveland? Let’s look at the matchup and make a prediction
When: 1 pm
Where: FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
Watch: CBS
Spread: Steelers (-10.5)
Series History: Steelers lead 67-58
Last Meeting: 11/15/15 — Steelers 30 Browns 9
Three keys to Steelers victory:
Play like a playoff caliber team – Let’s keep this simple; the Browns are a complete mess and the Steelers have shown at times to be as good as any team in the AFC with the possible exception of the New England Patriots. It’s time for the Steelers to wake up and play the way they should against an inferior opponent. There’s no excuse for what happened last week in Baltimore, and the Steelers must come out ready to go.
It looks like Browns head coach Mike Petttine is going to be fired and much like the Ravens last week, a number of regulars will be out. Add third-string QB Austin Davis making his first NFL start, and there are simply no excuses not to win this one handily.
Rattle Davis early and often – The Browns have struggled to protect their quarterbacks all season long, giving up 46 sacks this season, third worst in the NFL. Add All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas questionable with a knee injury and this offensive line might be the worst the Steelers defense will face all year. Davis has some mobility but should be under duress throughout if the Steelers defense shows up this week.
Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler was downright awful last week, refusing to blitz Ravens quarterback Ryan Mallett and thus allowing the journeyman to have a career day. Better plan on being a little more creative with the blitz packages, especially when the Steelers face a Browns offensive line that is in disarray.
Franchise QB needs to play like one – Ben Roethlisberger has done a lot of great things over his illustrious career, but last week’s dismal performance in Baltimore has to go down as one of the worst games he’s played. That being said, very little criticism seemed to be directed at Roethlisberger despite being largely responsible for the terrible loss to the Ravens.
A big performance might not be enough to salvage a playoff spot, but back to back head-scratching performances by one of the top QBs in the league might keep this game much closer than it should be. I’m sure that will be on Tomlin too, but Roethlisberger must shoulder considerable blame if he comes up small again this week.
Three keys to Browns victory:
Get off to a strong start – The Browns are arguably the worst team in the NFL right now. It’s very possible they have already checked out knowing their coach is going to be fired and the franchise being in complete shambles. However, a win against the Steelers to finish another terrible year might make the off-season a little brighter. That would certainly be the case for the fans in Cleveland, who would nothing more than to ruin the Steelers playoff chances with a monumental upset.
The fans are dying for something to get excited about. A strong early start by the Browns might get the fans energized and make the Steelers play tight. That was a factor last week in Baltimore and if the Browns want to be the second team to beat the Steelers as a double-digit underdog establishing early momentum will be key.
Limit Steelers ground game – Easier said than done considering no team is worse defending the run than the Browns. The Browns rush defense has given up 135 yards per game on the ground and now face the prospect of trying to stop Steelers ageless wonder DeAngelo Williams who has six 100-yard games this season. If Williams gets rolling, it’s going to be a very long day in Cleveland.
Get the unexpected splash plays – When you are the heavy underdog with everything against you, it’s going to take some big plays to get a win. Maybe it’s a kickoff or punt return TD? It could be forcing a few bad decisions by Roethlisberger that lead to points. Heck, when you’re facing the Steelers pass defense, maybe it’s some big plays from Davis and the Browns receivers? Whatever it is, the Browns are going to need some of these type of plays to have any chance.
Prediction:
I predicted a blowout last week and could not have been more off. Is it really possible that the Steelers lose this game to a Browns squad that is just a complete mess? No, and if they do? All bets are off heading into the off-season. Steelers 45 Browns 20
