The Pittsburgh Steelers very much wanted to redeem their loss against the Cleveland Browns, but it wasn’t about them. It was about the Steelers, and that’s the message HC Mike Tomlin pumped into the locker room all week. Remember the message last week, this wasn’t a “get-back” game, but a “get right” game? Those were Tomlin’s words, apparently, according to CB Joey Porter Jr.
“Like Coach T’s been saying all week, it’s not a get-back it’s a get right,” Porter said, via the Steelers’ website. “I feel like that’s what everybody felt like. It was a get right. We had to pick up and learn from our mistakes last game, and I feel like we did that.”
That doesn’t mean the Steelers weren’t mad about losing to a team they believed they were better than. Of course the Steelers were better than the Browns, but it’s about what you do on the day. Cleveland snuck one by them last time. That’s on the Steelers, not on the Browns, so there’s no getting back.
“It wasn’t about getting revenge or anything. It was about, we need to get back to playing our football. We need to get singularly focused and execute better,” Steelers captain Cameron Heyward said of their motivations to command the second game against the Browns.
“When you are better than a team and you know you’re better than a team and you go in there and you lay a big old goose egg on a Thursday night game, it really sucks,” S DeShon Elliott admitted about the Steelers losing to the Browns two weeks ago. “But at the same time, it was not a get-back game. It was just to fix those things that we know we are good at and the things that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
By and large, the Steelers managed just that, ultimately winning 27-14. At one point, the Steelers scored 24 unanswered points, after trailing for about 10 minutes. A pair of Russell Wilson touchdowns to Van Jefferson and Pat Freiermuth sealed the deal.
The Steelers’ three takeaways certainly proved a key factor, starting with Keeanu Benton’s interception. The pick set the offense up well in Browns territory and got them going. That led to a Najee Harris rushing touchdown and a lead the Steelers would never relinquish.
While they needed no revenge over their little brothers, the Steelers wanted to get themselves right at the right time. Now that the Browns are in the rearview mirror, the Steelers have the Eagles, Ravens, and Chiefs on tap. They don’t need to win all of those games, but they would certainly like to beat the Ravens.
As long as the Steelers do beat the Ravens, they can lose their other three games and still win the AFC North. That doesn’t mean they will take the Eagles lightly, even if that is the safest game to lose. A non-conference loss to a good team is certainly no stain.
But the Steelers can’t afford any more blips like the first loss to the Browns if their sights are set higher. The No. 1 seed is still in play, and they don’t need that much help. All they need is for the Bills and Chiefs each to lose one more game, and then to beat the Chiefs. Beyond that, winning out would be sufficient to a first-round bye. Having eliminated the Browns themselves, perhaps they could send some tickets out to Cleveland to watch them in the playoffs.
