CLEVELAND — The Browns finally make their way into AFC North play this weekend as they welcome the rival Pittsburgh Steelers to town on Sunday afternoon. After last week’s game between Baltimore and Cincinnati was a battle for first place in the division, this game between the Browns and Steelers will have the winner feeling good about their playoff chances and the loser will find themselves in the AFC North basement.
Here are three storylines to watch leading up to kickoff this week:
Will Baker be back?
The Browns played their first game since 2017 without Baker Mayfield on the active roster last Thursday night as Mayfield missed the win over Denver due to not only a fully torn labrum in his left shoulder, but also a fracture in his humerus, too. The Browns were able to rally behind an excellent game plan from head coach Kevin Stefanski and a solid performance out of backup quarterback Case Keenum and find a way to win.
That might not be enough this week against Pittsburgh. While the Steelers come into this weekend’s matchup with the same record that Denver entered the Week 7 game (3-3), they should be considered a better team than Denver was. Pittsburgh’s offense may be lacking, but the Steelers still boast a defensive unit that can strike fear into opposing offenses.
The one negative that was learned -- or perhaps relearned -- was the fact that the Browns have an extreme lack of a vertical passing game that is exaggerated with Keenum under center. If that continues to be the case, the Browns will have a more difficult time running the football, especially against a defense as talented as Pittsburgh’s. The Browns need Mayfield back sooner than later, even if he’s at less than 100 percent.
What about the rest of the injured players?
As the Browns have had a recent stretch of bad injury luck, Mayfield isn’t the only one that has a status in question for this week and the weeks to follow. Running back Nick Chubb has missed the last two games with a calf injury, right tackle Jack Conklin has been on the shelf with a knee injury, left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. has been in and out of the lineup with an ankle sprain, wide receivers Odell Backham Jr. and Jarvis Landry have been battling injuries, corner Denzel Ward left last week’s game with a hamstring issue, and that’s not even mentioning running back Kareem Hunt and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who are both on injured reserve with injuries.
As the Browns make their foray into AFC North play, they’ll need to be healthier than they have been for much of the season. The team did have good news as far as both Chubb and Conklin went as both did take part in a rare Monday practice, which would point to them being able to suit up on Sunday afternoon. There’s a chance that the final injury report has a double-digit number of guys listed as questionable.
What type of rest advantage is there?
The Browns are obviously entering this game with a bit of rest after playing last Thursday as opposed to Sunday. That normally would be an advantage over any opponent, however, Pittsburgh is coming off its bye week and hasn’t played since its Week 6 win over Seattle on Sunday Night Football. The Steelers should be entering this game in as good of a place as they have been physically since the start of the season. Yes, wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster is out for the season with a shoulder injury, but edge player T.J. Watt should look much closer to normal from his early-season groin injury after the week of rest. The biggest question as far as rejuvenation goes is quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The man who was once public enemy No. 1 in Cleveland has been reduced to a shell of himself on the field, and a meme of himself crying on the bench off the field -- in Cleveland, at least.
Roethlisberger is far from the quarterback he used to be and is having a poor year by his standards. His arm cannot throw the ball with the distance or velocity it used to, and this has been evident in some of the advanced numbers. He ranks bottom five in the league in intended air yards, completed air yards, and time from snap to throw. There’s a chance that the week of rest did his arm some good, but that may be a bit unlikely.