Steelers-Browns Recap

Steelers slowly pull away from the Browns, 27-11, en route to a fairly easy victory on the road.

The Good – The story of the game was an opportunistic  Steelers defense against what turned out to be a fairly inept Browns offense. The Steelers defense scored their first defensive TD of the year on a Willie Gay pick six in the 4th quarter. Earlier in the game, Gay blitzed and got a sack/forced fumble in which Will Allen picked up and returned all the way down to inside the Browns 5 yard line, resulting in a Ben TD pass to Manny Sanders, 20-3 Steelers, huge play. Troy played a very solid game, forcing 2 fumbles (recovering one) and almost snagging an interception. The talk of getting rid of Troy is simply crazy talk, the guy is still playing at a very high level.

– Suisham making a long and very tough FG on the opening drive of the game in windy conditions in the Mistake by the Lake.

–  Ben’s 41 yard TD pass to Brown at the end of the 1st half. The ball was actually underthrown (a Ben staple on deep passes) and Brown actually gets the ball stripped by Browns CB Joe Haden but the loose ball luckily lands on Brown’s chest as he lay on his back good for the TD.

– Jason Worilds, playing for an injured Lamar Woodley, created consistent pressure for most of the game. One highlight in particular, a bullrush all the way to Browns QB Wheeden creating a hurried incompletion. This kind of consistent pressure in a game hasn’t been seen since James Harrison was on the team. Like with Pouncey being injured, this could be a blessing in disguise for the Steelers. Time to cut some overpaid dead weight perhaps.

– Cam Heyward continues to make his case for best D-lineman on the team with another solid game, including a big sack on 3rd and 2 as the Browns were driving in Steelers territory in the 2nd quarter. Heyward also recovered a strip sack from Polamalu in the 2nd half.

– Watching the O-line play another solid game, let’s keep it up.

The Bad – Steelers calling a run play on 3rd and 7 on the opening drive of the game, resulting in no yards and a long FG attempt. Really bad call. The Steelers offense, starting with this call, would stall until the end of the half when the playcalling opened up more in cold and windy Cleveland. Disappointing but not surprising, this would end with Ben’s 41 yard TD to Brown with about 2 minutes left in the half. This offense is only successful at scoring points with an aggressive gameplan, it’s been shown time and again. If the Steelers continue to turn it around this is imperative.

– Rookie Bell had a couple of drops, including a bad one on 3rd down inside the Browns redzone where the Steelers had to settle for a FG.

– LB Timmons looked real slow in pass coverage, allowing multiple 3rd down pickups in the 1st half with some spotty coverage.

Summary – With 3 straight wins now the Steelers are back in the hunt for the Wildcard spot or even the division title. On Thanksgiving the Steelers face off against the Ravens in what has suddenly become a huge game for both teams. Let’s hope Tomlin and the Steelers don’t pucker up in this one as it happens so often when the Steelers get on a roll, let’s come out guns blazing! Ravens suck! Especially this year, complete frauds.