The Steelers struggled to get past the winless 0-5 Jacksonville Jaguars, 17-9 and now must face another poor quality team in the Cleveland Brown, 2-2, this weekend.
The Steelers have played down to their competition all season, as they did with a last minute victory over the Browns in the first game of the season. The Steelers played a great first half but totally fell apart in the second half. It took a last second field goal to win the game. But that’s the kind of ball Cleveland has been playing.
Led by Brian Hoyer at quarterback, this team is extremely young and unpredictable, which means nobody knows who will show up this weekend.
Hoyer who was 21 of 37 for 292 and 3 touchdown passes has weapons around him but no one has consistently stepped up so far in this young season. His top receiver is Taylor Gabriel who had 4 catches for 95 yards in their 29-28 come from behind victory over the Tennessee Titans. Terrance West, 7 catches for 31 yards and Miles Austin 2 catches for 54 yards are improving as receivers. Ben Tate had an outstanding day on the ground with 123 yards on 22 carries.
If the Browns can pull off the upset they could challenge for the division title with games against three very poor teams following the Steelers. They play the winless Jacksonville Jags, the winless Oakland Raiders, and the slow rising Tampa Bay Bucs. They could very easily be 6-2 before facing any real competition.
The Steelers had better beat the Browns because they have the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, and the Baltimore Ravens, all playoff contenders which means they could be looking at a 3-6 record if they don’t improve their play.
Now 3-2,the Steelers defense looked good against the lowly Jags, but the offense looked terrible. But that was partly because Jacksonville has a good defense and a weak offense.
Ben Roethlisberger was 26 of 36 for 273 yards and one touchdown. Antonio Brown only had 5 catches for 84 yards and Heath Miller had three for 46 yards. Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount looked good the few times they had the ball. Bell had 84 yards on 15 carries, and Blount had 29 yards on just 8 carries.
If the Steelers are going to compete in the AFC North against the Cincinnati Bengals 3-1 and the Baltimore Ravens 3-2, they have to pull out the victory this weekend against the Browns.
The Bengals lost to the New England Patriots 43-17 and the Ravens three game winning streak was ended by the Indianapolis Colts, 20-13, keeping the Steelers very much in the race.
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