The Pittsburgh Steelers will close out their 2020 regular season on the road on Sunday afternoon against the Cleveland Browns and on Tuesday morning, the first day of Week 17, they are consensus 7-point underdogs in that contest, according to vegasinsider.com.
The Browns are obviously led by quarterback Baker Mayfield on offense and he enters the final week of the regular season having completed 288 of his 459 total pass attempts on the season for 3,367 yards with 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Mayfield has also been sacked 22 times in 2020 and has fumbled away the football four times. His passer rating entering Week 17 against the Steelers is 95.8.
The Browns leading receiver entering Week 17 is Jarvis Landry, who has 67 receptions for 789 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Kareem Hunt, however, leads the Browns in touchdown receptions entering Week 17 with five. Tight end Austin Hooper is second on the Browns in total receptions with 42 for 398 yards and three touchdowns.
Running back Nick Chubb enters the final week of the 2020 regular season as the team’s leading rusher with 959 yards and 11 touchdowns on his 176 total carries. He also has 16 receptions on the season for 150 yards. Hunt is second on the Browns in rushing with 804 yards and six touchdowns on 188 total carries.
Defensively for the Browns entering their Week 17 finale against the Steelers, linebacker B.J. Goodson leads the team in total tackles with 91. Defensive end Myles Garrett leads the Browns in sacks with 12 and is also the team leader in quarterback hits (18) and forced fumbles (4).
Entering the final week of the regular season, Goodson and cornerback Denzel Ward are tied for the Browns team lead in interceptions with two apiece. Ward, however, does lead the team in passes defended with 18.
For the season, the Browns defense has 37 sacks to go along with 20 total takeaways. Their offense has turned the football over 16 times in the 15 games that they have played.
The Steelers and Browns have met each other 137 times (including 2 postseason games), with Pittsburgh winning 77 games and Cleveland winning 59 games. They have also tied 1 time. The two teams last met in Week 6 of this season in Pittsburgh and the Steelers won that game 38-7. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 14 of his 22 total passes in that contest for 162 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
The Steelers are 8-4-1 against the Browns in Cleveland under head coach Mike Tomlin. The Browns last won at home against the Steelers just last season. This game will mark the first time since 1989 that the Browns have been a favorite of seven or more points in a game against the Steelers. Thirty-one years ago, on Oct 15, 1989, the Browns were a 10-point favorite over the Steelers in a game in Cleveland. The Steelers won that game 17-7.
The Sunday game means a lot more to the Browns then it does the Steelers as the latter already has a playoff spot locked up entering the contest while the former does not. The Steelers are likely to rest several of their key players on Sunday against the Browns and that list will likely include Roethlisberger.
