For the second time in 17 days, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns will clash in another edition of AFC North Football. This time, it’ll be at Acrisure Stadium, where conditions should be better than they were in Week 12 on Thursday Night Football on the shores of Lake Erie.
After dropping a frustrating 24-19 game to the Browns in Week 12, the Steelers are itching to get back at the Browns and continue to create breathing room in the AFC North. To do so, they’ll need some key pieces to step up and make plays, particularly on the defensive side of the football. That was an area the Steelers struggled in during the previous matchup, having issues slowing down the Browns in key spots, allowing four fourth-down conversions and a game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter.
There will be games within the game to watch, like the turnover battle, tackling battle and more. Make sure to keep an eye on key individual matchups, though. There are plenty of them this week from top to bottom in all three phases for the Steelers against the Browns.
Below are my four key matchups to watch on Sunday.
STEELERS OLB T.J. WATT VS. BROWNS RT JACK CONKLIN
The last time these two matched up, Jack Conklin got the best of Watt, shutting him out entirely. Conklin allowed just two pressures to Watt, and held his own while on an island in 1-on-1 matchups at times. Put simply, Watt had a bad day, and Conklin was on top of his game.
Since then, the Steelers have tinkered with Watt’s alignment, moving him around against the Bengals with great success, leading to a two-sack day with a forced fumble in the shootout win against Cincinnati. More of that, please.
The Steelers made Watt a stationary target, and it was relatively easy for the Browns to gameplan against. That can’t be the case on Sunday, and Watt can’t have a bad game again, especially with Alex Highsmith returning from injury and Nick Herbig playing at a high level. Watt needs to be Watt to make the trio of OLBs a three-headed monster Sunday.
Good news for Watt is that Conklin is coming off of a disastrous game against the Broncos, allowing eight pressures and a sack in the loss. He was a mess and now has to deal with a guy in Watt who has a point to prove. Good luck.
STEELERS DE LARRY OGUNJOBI VS. BROWNS RG WYATT TELLER
Typically in this spot I would highlight the matchup of Cameron Heyward against Joel Bitonio, as it’s two titans at their position going against each other again. This time though, I am shifting my focus to Ogunjobi, who has been solid but quiet this season.
Ogunjobi handles his role well, but this week he needs to be a bit more impactful. On the year he has just 13 pressures and two sacks, but he has just two pressures in the last four weeks, including just one against the Browns in the Week 12 matchup. With all of the attention that the Browns are going to pay to Watt and Heyward from a pass blocking standpoint, Ogunjobi needs to step up and make some plays.
Teller hasn’t been his usual self this season, taking a bit of a step back, much like most of the Browns’ offensive line has done. Teller has allowed 15 pressures this season, including three on Monday Night Football against the Broncos. He currently has the worst pass blocking grade of his career from PFF, too.
So, that matchup is there for the taking. After being named the Steelers’ nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award earlier in the week, it would be fitting for Ogunjobi to make some plays at home on Sunday.
BROWNS DE MYLES GARRETT VS. STEELERS LT DAN MOORE JR.
Once again, this is a pivotal matchup. In Week 12, Garrett dominated with three sacks in the first half. The Steelers, especially Moore, admitted after the game that they didn’t have a good enough plan for Garrett. That showed over and over again in the first half.
Since then, though, the Steelers offensive line has been rather good and shut down Bengals’ pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, who leads the league in sacks. But Garrett is a better player than Hendrickson, so the task is tall.
The Steelers have to have a better plan for Garrett, especially to help out Moore, who has had a solid year but struggled in matchups against the Browns and Ravens before getting back on track Sunday against the Bengals. Meanwhile, Garrett was largely a no-show against the Broncos, recording just two pressures. He looked like he was playing through some sort of ailment, too, but he hasn’t been on the injury report all week.
We’ll see what the plan of attack is for the Steelers this week against Garrett.
BROWNS CB GREG NEWSOME II VS. STEELERS WR GEORGE PICKENS
This one has the chance to truly produce fireworks, both good and bad.
Pickens has had quite a few comments about the Browns and Newsome since the end of the Week 12 game, saying the Browns are not a good team at all. Then on Friday, Pickens said he doesn’t even know who Newsome is. That’ll add some fuel to the fire that is probably already burning ahead of this rematch.
Pickens and Newsome won’t be matched up a ton on Sunday, but when Pickens has that matchup, he needs to remain cool and just focus on making plays, rather than trying to get back at Newsome for his comments after the Week 12 game and his action on the final play of the game.
This is a huge test for Pickens mentally. The Browns are going to try to get under his skin and get him to take some bad penalties and hurt the Steelers. That includes Newsome. Pickens has to show he’s able to handle those types of tough moments emotionally. If not, it could be a long day.
