Heading into Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry had registered just four lost fumbles in his NFL career, a span of more than seven seasons now. So, when Steelers inside linebacker Joe Schobert forced Landry, his former teammate, to fumble in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game in Cleveland, it became quite the momentous event. After the game, Landry talked briefly about his fumble, which Schobert caused and Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt ultimately recovered.
“It’s something he’s known for doing,” Landry said of Schobert. “I wasn’t really trying to fight for extra yards. I was trying to get down and he made a great play.”
Back in Pittsburg on Monday, Schobert was one of two Steelers players to have a media session and he was asked during his to comment on his forced fumble on Sunday and how maybe the previous time he spent with the wide receiver in Cleveland may have played a small role in him forcing the turnover.
“Yeah, I mean, Jarvis is a great competitor and a fierce athlete, and he’s very, obviously, protective of the ball, as all ball carriers are in the NFL,” Schobert said Monday. “I do remember a few times in training camps when I was back there, he would catch the ball on little spot routes and juke me, and I came from behind and punched the ball out a couple of times. So, maybe it’s just something I have on him. But in games, I can’t remember him ever fumbling when I was there. So, that’s a pretty rare thing to get done.”
Rare for most defenders, maybe, but probably not as rare for Schobert, who spent his first four seasons in the NFL with the Browns from 2016-2019. As Schobert mentioned on Monday, he had previously had success forcing Landry to fumble during Cleveland practices. A quick search on Twitter returns a July of 2019 training camp practice play that included Schobert forcing Landry to fumble.
Schobert’s forced fumble was a huge play in Sunday’s game. It happened on 2nd and 8 play from the Steelers 32 yard-line, for starters. Had Schobert not ripped the ball out of Landry’s hands after he caught it, the Browns would have had a first down at right around the Steelers 20-yard-line with six minutes left in the contest and down just five-points, 15-10. At worst, the Browns would have likely come away from that possession with at least a field goal.
Overall, Schobert had a good game against the Browns on Sunday as he led the Steelers defense in total tackles with nine and had the forced fumble to boot. The Steelers defense entered Sunday’s game as a unit struggling to create turnovers on the season. Schobert’s forced fumble was huge and could maybe be pointed to as the key turning point in the Steelers win to boot.
