The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to get their eighth win of the 2021 season in Week 17 by beating the 7-8 Cleveland Browns at home on Monday night at Heinz Field. A bit surprisingly, the Steelers opened Week 17 on Tuesday as 3-point consensus home underdogs to the Browns, according to vegasinsider.com.
The Browns, who are coached by Kevin Stefanski, are led offensively by fourth-year quarterback Baker Mayfield. He has completed 237 of his 380 total pass attempts for 2,825 yards with 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He’s also been sacked 34 times so far this season.
Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry leads the team in receptions entering Week 17 with 42 for 452 yards. He has just one receiving touchdown on the season, however. Tight end Austin Hooper is behind him with 36 receptions for 317 yards with three touchdowns.
Browns running back Nick Chubb leads the team in rushing entering Week 17 with 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns on his 207 total carries. Chubb has chipped in another 172 yards and a touchdown on his 19 total receptions this season.
Defensively for the Browns entering Week 17, linebacker Anthony Walker leads the team in total tackles with 97. The Browns defense has 37 sacks on the season entering Week 17 and defensive end Myles Garrett has the team lead with 15 of them. Garrett also leads the Browns in quarterback hits with 29.
The Browns have 12 interceptions on the season, with safety John Johnson and cornerback Denzel Ward each registering three. Ward leads the team in passes defensed with 10. Rookie linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has forced two fumbles this season. Entering Week 17, the Browns have managed to record 18 total takeaways on the season.
All-time, the Steelers and Browns have met each other 140 times (including three postseason games), with Cleveland winning 61 games and Pittsburgh winning 78 games. The two teams have also tied once. The Steelers are 23-6-1 against the Browns under head coach Mike Tomlin, and 14-1 against them at home.
The last time the Steelers and Browns played was in Week 8 of this season. The Steelers won that game 15-10 at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland. The last meeting between the two teams in Pittsburgh took place in last season in the AFC Super Wild Card game, and the Browns won that game 48-37.
For his career and including the playoffs, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is 25-3-1 against the Browns all-time and 12-1 at home against them. He has thrown for 7,274 yards and 46 touchdowns against the Browns during his career, with 26 interceptions.
The Steelers are 19-0 in their last 19 Monday Night Football home games. Their last Monday Night Football home loss came on October 14th, 1991 against the New York Giants, 23-20.
The Monday night game will be shown on ESPN, with Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Louis Riddick, and Lisa Salters on the call.
