The Pittsburgh Steelers came off a big win against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11 only to disappoint on Thursday Night Football against the Cleveland Browns, losing 24-19 in a game impacted by snow and wind. But Steelers OT Dan Moore Jr. said he never felt the confidence from the Steelers or a sense of urgency that they had to win. And that has to change, Moore said Friday ahead of a rematch with the Browns in Week 14.
“Just got to have a mentality, just go out with confidence. I didn’t feel that confidence in that Cleveland game and I felt it last week, just that sense of urgency, just the need to win. We just gotta go into the stadium with that,” Moore said via the Steelers’ YouTube channel.
Cleveland entered the Week 12 game at 2-8, while the Steelers had the opposite record at 8-2. The Steelers may have just simply expected to be able to beat Cleveland, and they were surely impacted by playing on a short week after a tough, physical game against the Ravens.
That likely affected their preparation and could’ve been one reason why they may not have felt fully good to go, and that was evident with their slow start, as the Steelers managed just three first-half points. They were able to mount a comeback in the second half and took the lead at one point in the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t get a stop late and wound up losing.
They may not have been in that situation if there was more of a sense of urgency earlier in the game, and the Steelers need to come out ready to attack on Sunday. Moore’s going to play a pivotal role, as he’ll need to contain EDGE Myles Garrett, who had three sacks in the first matchup between the two teams, which all came in the first half. Limiting Garrett is going to be key to getting Pittsburgh’s offense going and allowing the Steelers to stay on schedule, and it’ll take more than just Moore to make that happen.
But the attitude going into this game is going to be important, and there’s been a lot of animosity between these two teams, as George Pickens took a shot at CB Greg Newsome II Friday and Newsome and the Browns responded. There’s a little extra fire for both teams in this one, and the Steelers need to come out with a killer instinct and put Cleveland away early.
