CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns finally open up AFC North play on Sunday as they welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers to FirstEnergy Stadium. The Browns become the last team in the entire NFL to open up divisional play, and it starts with a team they’re favored to beat at home.
Here are three keys for the Browns to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend.
KEEP PITTSBURGH'S DEFENSIVE LINE AT BAY
This game is going to be a big matchup for the Browns offensive line, which should be the healthiest that it’s been since the season started nearly two months ago. All signs are pointing to all five starting offensive linemen being able to play for the first time in almost a month after both Jedrick Wills (ankle) and Jack Conklin (knee) have each missed multiple games with injuries.
The defensive line for Pittsburgh features both defensive tackle Cam Heyward and edge defenders T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. That group is so good at getting to the quarterback that Pittsburgh’s defense can afford to drop extra defenders into coverage. The Steelers rank 26th in blitz percentage, blitzing on just 20.2 percent of defensive snaps they have played through six games. With that said, they’ve generated pressure on the quarterback on 28.8 percent of their opponents drop backs. That blitz-to-pressure ratio is near the top of the league.
Keeping Baker Mayfield upright and healthy depends on the play of the offensive line this week more than ever, and for the first time in a long time, the offensive line should be at full strength to do the job.
CAPITALIZE ON BEN ROETHLISBERGER'S MISTAKES
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has terrorized the Cleveland Browns throughout his career. Until last year he was actually the quarterback with the most wins inside FirstEnergy Stadium (which certainly says more about the Browns than it does him), and he boasts a 24-2-1 record against Cleveland in the regular season throughout his career. But the Roethlisberger that built up that lofty resume was much better than the guy who's playing quarterback for the Steelers now.
Roethlisberger has been prone to mistakes this year, already turning the ball over seven times through six games, and is near the top of the league with 11 turnover-worthy plays, according to Pro Football Focus. There is going to be an opportunity for the Browns to create a turnover or two, they just need to capitalize on the mistakes that Roethlisberger will make. He hasn’t thrown an interception in either of his last two games, but has fumbled in every game but one this year, including losing a fumble in each of Pittsburgh’s last three games.
To compound this, Pittsburgh’s offensive line will be one of the lesser ones that the Browns face all season long. None of the Steelers’ starting offensive linemen have graded out at better than 62.1 on Pro Football Focus this year, and Roethisberger has been sacked 12 times through six games. To counteract the poor offensive line play, Pittsburgh has done everything to get the ball out of Roethlisberger’s hands as quickly as possible. He has the quickest average snap to throw time in the NFL at just 2.36 seconds. When he takes longer than that, Myles Garrett and company should have little trouble getting to him and forcing him into mistakes.
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WIN ON THE PERMITER
It’s already been mentioned just how good Pittsburgh’s defensive front is, but aside from those guys, the Steelers defense has been nothing to write home about this year. Starting corners Joe Haden and Cameron Sutton have played at a slightly below average level this season, and even All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is having the worst year of his career, especially in pass coverage. If the Browns can protect Mayfield (assuming he plays) in the pocket against that stellar pass rush, this could be the week that the vertical passing game finally takes off for the Browns.
Maybe this is all a moot point and will never happen, but Pittsburgh doesn’t have the talent on the back end to contain a guy like Odell Beckham Jr. It feels like this is written regularly, but this could be a week where he and Mayfield finally look like they’re on the same page, even after Beckham’s rough game against Denver with Mayfield sidelined. If not, the Browns still have plenty of other weapons that Pittsburgh should have trouble defending against.