How the Browns Beat the Steelers
The Cleveland Browns face an incredibly difficult test this week traveling to Pittsburgh to take on the undefeated Steelers. Beat up after an extremely physical game against the Indianapolis Colts, the Browns have the opportunity to move into first place in the AFC North while proving to themselves as much as the Steelers what they are capable of this season.
When the Browns have the ball.
The Steelers defense has been really impressive as a unit, yielding the 6th fewest points in the NFL, the second fewest rushing yards and the 16th fewest passing yards. SOME of the lack of rushing yards and the abundance of passing yards is caused by the score with the Steelers often protecting leads much of the second half.
Having said all of that, the individual parts in the Steelers defense don't really take anything away the Browns want to do on offense.
Their front four is outstanding. Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt are elite players and Stephon Tuitt doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Bud Dupree is there too. Tyson Alualu has played about half the snaps as the rest of the group, but he's playing at an incredibly high level. It's difficult to argue they aren't the best group in the league and it is covering up for a lot of warts on the defensive front not unlike the Browns.
From the linebackers to the safeties, they have some names, but aren't playing as well as one might expect. While the Browns must not take Minkah Fitzpatrick for granted, he's not playing anywhere near the level he did in 2019 when he was acquired. He has yet to record anything other than tackles this season.
Devin Bush is athletic and can fly around, but he's not delivering much of an impact and Vince Williams has stunk. Believe it or not, Malcolm Smith is playing the best football of any linebacker that will play in this game.
Steven Nelson is their best corner and Joe Haden to this point has been underwhelming. Mike Hilton isn't necessarily a terrific cover corner, but his threat as a blitzer can be debilitating for an offense.
If the Browns can control the defensive front, which is easier said than done, they can control the game. Likely not having Wyatt Teller is a huge blow. Chris Hubbard to his everlasting credit is having a great season, stepping in admirably at right guard last week, he's a better pass blocker than run blocker. And against the combination of Heyward and Tuitt, even as well as he has played, it's difficult to feel confident about the situation.
Still, Jack Conklin was signed in no small part to deal with T.J. Watt. Dupree is not great, but he is nevertheless a threat against rookie Jedrick Wills. Wills has shown he is up to the task to block the likes of Dupree, but it's all about consistency.
Joel Bitonio and J.C. Tretter are veterans in the war up front against this Steelers dynamic duo of Heyward and Tuitt.
As highly touted as the battle between the Browns and the Washington Football Team front was, this is far bigger. Not only because this Steelers group is better, but obviously because this game is for much higher stakes. Even if the Browns struggled with Washington, they had an overwhelming talent advantage everywhere else. If they are unable to show well against this front, it will likely determine the outcome of the game.
The Steelers are likely to follow the same plan as the Football Team and the Indianapolis Colts, focusing on stopping the run and forcing Baker Mayfield to win with his arm.
Mayfield did enough to beat the Colts, but he called it the worst game of the year for him. He wasn't wrong. Despite operating from a number of clean pockets and making a number of great plays, he missed some throws, often high, made a poor read that resulted in an interception and just left a lot of meat on the bone.
The success he did have enabled the Browns to score 20 points in the first half, but the combination of Mayfield and receiver drops stalled the offense in the second half.
The Steelers will challenge Mayfield not to make mistakes and attempt to put the Browns in obvious passing situations to pin their ears back and try to pressure him, potentially leading to turnovers.
The Browns, much like with the Colts, cannot be afraid to run the ball and it may be chipping away to find success later in the game. The Browns are going to want to take advantage of every opportunity Conklin can wear on Watt, but mixing up their looks and employing pullers can enable the Browns to have success running both directions. Kicking out Watt and Dupree could enable the Browns to create running lanes if they are successful in blocking down on the defensive tackles.
The Browns have gone with an early tight end screen to Austin Hooper the last few games and it wouldn't be a surprise to see that against the Steelers. They may want to utilize more screens in general because their linemen are mobile and their perimeter players block well. The Steelers also may want to drop off giving screens room to run. Taking the defensive line out of the equation should be an advantage for the Browns.
Down the field, nothing the Steelers do is particularly scary. Whether it's Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry against their corners or their tight ends against their backers and safeties, they shouldn't be afraid to attack anywhere. Mayfield has to be on his game in making his reads as the Steelers will try to fool him, but the Browns have an advantage with their skill.
Kareem Hunt could provide an important advantage to the passing game. It really seems like the Steelers will have a difficult choice here. If they cover Hunt, they may not have the ability to cover the Browns tight ends. Either scenario is good for the Browns.
The Steelers would likely utilize Devin Bush, perhaps with help, to defend Hooper. Noah Fant killed Bush when the Steelers played the Denver Broncos. They could look to find ways to space Hooper out, either by alignment or route, so that he's isolated against Bush with room to run. The ancillary benefit is this would take Bush out of the middle of the field allowing the Browns to attack that area, either to players like David Njoku and Harrison Bryant or receivers settling in space.
The same mesh concepts the Steelers will utilize could work well against them. The Steelers aren't fast on the outside and their linebackers aren't great in the middle, so that could yield some open opportunities. This was a huge problem for the Colts and created some wide open looks.
Last, but certainly not least is Odell Beckham. The Steelers do not have anyone who can cover him alone. The Browns are going to find ways to get him the ball, but they should be looking to take shots down the field. If he's isolated, he's got a massive advantage. If not and he can pull help out of the play to try to bracket him, it creates extremely favorable matchups elsewhere.
Beckham is built to run by the Steelers defense. Landry and Rashard Higgins are great at finding holes in zone, which is a large amount of what the Steelers want to do.
Mayfield has passed the tests he's had to this point in the season. He's yet to ace a test and if he can do that, the Browns can potentially dominate this game while he will look like a great quarterback.
When the Steelers have the ball.
The Steelers are not a particularly strong run blocking unit, but they do find success largely set up by an effective passing game. Nevertheless, the Browns have a distinct advantage on the edges as neither Alejandro Villanueva or Chukwuma Okorafor offer much in this aspect of the game.
Myles Garrett, for all of his immense talent, hasn't really dominated in the running game. This is an opportunity for him to funnel their backs inside, which should limit their impact, putting them in obvious passing situations.
The Steelers will utilize a screen game to try to supplement their running game and slow down the Browns pass rush. They like to utilize screens to running backs as well as receivers to try to exploit vulnerabilities in the defense.
This matchup will be determined by the Steelers passing game. Two things the Steelers have consistently done well is throwing drags and then finding ways to go down the field, often near the sideline.
Between tight ends, receivers and Chase Claypool, the Steelers can throw a ton of different matchups at teams, forcing them to try to find the right personnel, which can lead to missed assignments or breakdowns. Unfortunately, this has been a bigger issue for the Browns than most.
Juju Smith-Schuster, James Washington and Diontae Johnson are able to win the race across the field and create separation often while the rest of the passing concept clears out space for them, enabling additional yardage up the sideline. Whether it's meshing other routes to clear the linebackers or attacking down the field, it often puts a corner on an island and one false step can yield a first down or an explosive play.
That clear out concept is particularly difficult for the Browns because that is often the Steelers quick passing game to try to negate a pass rush, which is where the Browns have to create an advantage.
If there's good news, it's that Denzel Ward and Kevin Johnson are sticky cover corners that can contest these routes in man coverage. If the Browns are in zone, hopefully the linebackers can disrupt their crossers and the defense as a whole tackles effectively to limit the damage.
The defense still has to account for those other routes, because if they don't, Roethlisberger will beat them deep. On a number of occasions this season, he has found a wide open receiver down the field, who is often Chase Claypool.
The emergence of Claypool is a problem for the Browns just like the rest of the league. 6'4" almost 240lbs with tremendous strength and athleticism, he's a huge matchup problem. And the Browns don't have a great answer. A healthy Ronnie Harrison theoretically could be used to follow around Claypool and cover him, but it's not the best use of their resources.
One potential option the Browns have at their disposal is corner Robert Jackson, signed to the active roster this week, taking the spot of Greedy Williams, who was placed on injured reserve. Normally, Jackson is almost strictly utilized on special teams and he's good in that aspect of the game. He's yet to show he's a particularly good cover corner, but he does offer size at 6'2" 200lbs, the biggest on the team.
That might not be Plan A or even Plan B or C, but it's an option. Jackson has been on the practice squad, so he has been working at corner on scout teams against the starting offense, so if they like what he's been doing, they may be inclined to put him out there.
Getting back to Roethlisberger, his statistics are fantastic and better than he's actually playing. There are times where he is brilliant and the offense makes it look easy. He does however look more vulnerable than he has in years past as the offense is inconsistent and he will occasionally just look off on a drive or few.
The problem is whatever inconsistency the offense might show and how the whole operation can get stalled for an entire quarter, they can score in a single play. So whether it's the Steelers offense not executing or the defense flustering them, that instant offense element is a major problem for the Browns, who have been susceptible to this without the Steelers help.
As much as the Steelers like to attack on the edges in their passing game, it's difficult to fathom they won't flood the middle of the field as so many teams have to try to cause the breakdowns that have been so frequent this season.
Myles Garrett is a challenge for every opponent, but the Steelers have struggled with him historically. He dominates Villanueva, but the weakest point on the offensive front is Okorafor. So after largely isolating on Le'Raven Clark of the Colts and the pair of right tackles for the Dallas Cowboys, both sides are viable for him and he could move around, which creates additional stress on the front as well as for Roethlisberger.
Even if Garrett continues his unbelievable streak of dominance, the Browns need to get more out of the rest of the unit. Injuries have been incredibly frustrating for this group, but they may have all hands on deck this week, even if many of them aren't 100 percent.
The Steelers offensive line is in a similar situation. David DeCastro left their last game with an abdominal injury. Maurkice Pouncey is dealing with a foot issue. Neither participated in practice on Wednesday, so even if they are able to play this week, they may well be compromised.
The Steelers are a significantly better pass blocking unit than run blocking unit, so this is going to be a huge focus in this game along with how the Browns deal with the Steelers passing concepts and specifically how they try to account for Claypool.
Special Teams
It will be interesting to see if the Browns continue to utilize Donovan Peoples-Jones in the returner role. He was absolutely dreadful against the Colts, save for the last return of the game in which he got a solid return.
Maybe it was simply the fact it was his first game and it's getting adjusted. If he's out there and plays like he did last week, it puts the Browns at a major disadvantage.
The good news is he's a better punt returner than kick returner and if he can get comfortable, catching the ball cleanly and feel confident, he can be a threat.
The addition of Robert Jackson does help with their special teams coverage units. He's big, he's fast and he's physical. And obviously, coming off of a game where the Browns gave up a kick return touchdown, there is more pressure for them to step up and deliver.
The Browns may simply decide to kick the ball out of the back of the end zone this week and be happy to have the Steelers start on their own 25.
If Diontae Johnson is out with his back injury, the Steelers will go with Ray-Ray McLoud is a threat in his own right. It's not a settled issue as to which is the better option. McLoud is a pain because he's dense, listed at 5'9" 190 pounds. His straight line speed is good, not great, but he's got great balance and agility.
