Sunday’s matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns inside FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland is a pivotal matchup for both AFC North teams that have shown plenty of struggles and dealt with significant injuries early in the season.
The Week 8 matchup will go a long way towards determining the AFC North race and the AFC playoff picture, but it could also serve as one final time that Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s faces off against the Browns in Cleveland in his Hall of Fame career.
Up until last season, Roethlisberger was the winningest quarterback in Cleveland’s stadium dating back to the reincarnation of the Browns in 1999. It’s safe to say Roethlisberger has owned the Dawg Pound and the Browns since coming into the league.
Now though, the Browns are on the rise and if it is Roethlisberger’s final game in Cleveland, Browns’ star defensive end Myles Garrett wants to send the future Hall of Famer out “right.”
Speaking to reporters in Cleveland Friday, Garrett was asked about Sunday’s matchup being the possible final game in Cleveland for Roethlisberger. According to The Athletic’s Zac Jackson, who covers the Browns for the outlet, Garrett said there is some extra added motivation as a pass rusher for the matchup.
That’s an awesome response from Garrett, if we’re being honest, and one that should be expected. Garrett has fully reached his potential in the NFL in the last two years and is one of the most feared pass rushers off the edge in the NFL. He’s had a ton of success getting to Roethlisberger in his career, and now draws the matchup of rookie left tackle Dan Moore Jr. on Sunday, matching up two former Texas A&M standouts in the trenches.
The last time the two teams met, the clips of Roethlisberger in tears on the bench next to now-retired center Maurkice Pouncey continue to be played over and over ahead of the Week 8 matchup. If Garrett has his way on Sunday, he’ll get to Roethlisberger multiple times in a Browns’ win, sending Roethlisberger out of Cleveland in his final time doing something he hasn’t done often in the city known fondly as the “Mistake By The Lake” — with a loss.
