Dudes & Duds: Steelers Dominate Browns After Trash Talk-Filled Week
· Yahoo Sports
Cleveland Browns edge rusher Jared Verse got the week started with some trash talk, and collectively, the Pittsburgh Steelers responded—not with words, but with action.
With the AFC North lead on the line, Mike McCarthy’s club out-physicaled and, quite frankly, dominated their opponent for 60 minutes in a 27-6 win.
Visit betsport.cv for more information.
As the sample size continues to grow, it’s overwhelmingly obvious that they have a winning formula consisting of controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and winning the turnover battle.
The Steelers will now head into their bye week at 6-2, and don’t look now, but the second half of the schedule looks noticeably softer now that Baltimore Ravens signal-caller Lamar Jackson is headed for injured reserve. Before looking too far ahead, let’s talk through some winners and losers from today’s win.
Dude: EDGE Alex Highsmith
Alex Highsmith took the Browns’ rookie left tackle, Spencer Fano, to the cleaners today, notching pressure after pressure, repeatedly winning the outside track seemingly whenever he wanted. Officially, he was given credit for 0.5 sacks, bringing his season-long total to 3.5. He should have had another late in the fourth quarter, but Deshaun Watson was able to spin out of his grasp.
Highsmith is having another strong campaign, and while other contenders would be smart to check in on his availability approaching the trade deadline, Pittsburgh would be wise to keep him.
Dud: WR DK Metcalf
Make no mistake about it: it’s been a nightmarish year for DK Metcalf thus far, with the 28-year-old finishing with just four receiving yards on six targets today. He continues to have difficulty beating press-man coverage, a particularly concerning problem for a player who aligns on the ball with such regularity. Both Tyson Campbell and Denzel Ward blanked him on underneath targets to force incompletions.
The Browns busted a coverage in the second half that sprung him wide open down the field, except Metcalf bobbled the ball, and it turned into an unlucky interception. His struggles should only motivate the Steelers brass to be more aggressive in their pursuit of another playmaker.
Dude: RB Rico Dowdle
Some garbage-time carries nuked Rico Dowdle’s box score numbers, but Dowdle looked fantastic in the first half, creating a pair of explosive runs and punching one in from nine yards out. Since his return from injury, he’s appeared to regain his explosiveness.
Although he did fumble, he created enough on his own today to warrant an inclusion on this list. Pittsburgh has had one of, if not the best, run games in the league over the past month thanks to two talented backs, an ascending offensive line, and a play caller who is willing to dip into different concepts depending on the opponent.
Dud: Red Zone Passing Offense
The Steelers going 3-for-5 in the red zone is a small improvement compared with where they were through the first seven weeks, when they had the fifth-worst touchdown conversion rate in the league.
With that being said, I don’t know what it’s going to take for Aaron Rodgers to stop throwing these low-percentage fades to Metcalf, considering most of these haven’t even been remotely close. When Pittsburgh runs the football, especially near the goal line, good things seem to happen. If they want to put the ball in the air, it makes more sense to incorporate a bit more play-action whenever opposing defenses start selling out to stop the ground game.
Dude: Red Zone Defense
Pittsburgh’s defense has very much been a bend-don’t-break unit—a trend that continued today, as the Steelers didn’t allow a single touchdown on the Browns’ three trips inside the red zone. Harold Fannin beat Jaquan Brisker vertically to get his squad down to the two-yard line, but Payton Wilson had a huge tackle for loss on the ensuing play.
Two reps later, he showed off his speed to prevent Watson from taking off toward the pylon. Both of the team’s linebackers could have made this list again this week and, combined, are now playing the best football of their careers in black and gold.
Dudes: Steelers Pass Rush
I wanted to shout out Highsmith for an outstanding performance, but both T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig balled out as well. With Watson’s tendency to hold the football paired with his poor pocket presence, this matchup was ripe on paper.
Eight sacks later, and it’s safe to say they took advantage of it because this wasn’t a fair fight whatsoever. Patrick Graham dialed up a plethora of blitzes, notching three sacks, but the Steelers were able to cause chaos when rushing four, as well.
The Steelers defense thrives on creating splash plays in the form of sacks and turnovers, which has mostly been able to mitigate its weaknesses in the secondary so far. They’ll need a similarly dominant performance to slow down Joe Burrow the next time out.
Related Headlines