It’s a little outdated to make a Halloween reference but the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Thursday night game against the Cleveland Browns could be trick or treat. On paper, the Steelers should easily win. The Steelers are 8-2 and in first place, the Browns 2-8 and bringing up the division’s rear. But the AFC North is well-known for throwing out records and stats.
Wednesday morning, Good Morning Football debated if the Steelers will soar or struggle with the Browns. Co-host Akbar Gbaja-Biamila believes it will be the latter.
“Coming off that big win, like you just talked about, it’s very easy to get intoxicated by the moment,” he said on the NFL Network Show. “It was a great win, but there’s still a lot to work on. We saw in that game, the Steelers, they didn’t score a touchdown.”
Pittsburgh played an emotional and intense game against Baltimore, not securing victory until one of the literal final plays of the game. It was an impressive win to subdue a high-flying Ravens offense, the Steelers making fewer mistakes and leaning on the elite play of K Chris Boswell to net an 18-16 win. Pittsburgh won despite scoring zero touchdowns and allowing two, only the 11th time in NFL regular-season history a team has done so.
But Kyle Brandt thinks Pittsburgh doesn’t fall into a trap.
“I’d say stomp them out,” he said. “You’re the Steelers, they’re the Browns. They’re playing out of string. Every piece of energy and vibe coming from the Browns right now is really negative. Including like, just topics and tweets about [head coach Kevin Stefanski’s] job status moving forward.”
Brandt argued that the Steelers’ recognition of the moment, a chance to run the table and capture the AFC’s No. 1 seed, will keep them focused and prevent any letdown against the Browns.
Still, this is a recipe to be a nail-biter game. The short week, the Steelers on the road, bad weather in the forecast. The Browns aren’t a good team but have talent and have played better with QB Jameis Winston in the lineup. Pittsburgh has lost four of its last five in Cleveland, too.
But if Pittsburgh can come out and make quick work of Cleveland, it’ll speak to its readiness and professionalism. Beating the “bad” teams the way they should be taken care of. No matter how they can get it, a win would put the Steelers at 9-2 overall, 2-0 in the AFC North, and enjoying a 10-day layoff before finishing the latter half of their four-game AFC North stretch. Including seeing the Cleveland Browns two weeks from now.
