The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their fifth game of the 2025 season following the bye week at home against the Cleveland Browns. It’s their first divisional game this season, adding some importance. The Browns come in with a 1-4 record tied for the last in the AFC North.
Below are five key things I believe the Steelers will need to do to come away with their fourth win of the year.
Limit Myles and Company – Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. Myles Garrett, a four-time All-Pro and perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, has given Pittsburgh fits in recent years. In his last three games against the Steelers, he has six sacks and nine quarterback hits. He will most often face off against Broderick Jones, who has shown improvement in the early part of the season but he will have his hands full.
But Garrett isn’t on his own. The starting front four of the Browns has gotten off to a solid start. The group along with Garrett includes rookie Mason Graham, Maliek Collins and Isaiah McGuire. This group, through five games, has combined to produce nine sacks, 16 tackles for a loss, 18 quarterback hits and 57 total tackles. The entire Steelers offensive line will have its challenges.
Aaron Rodgers has been getting the ball out quickly this season and that will have to continue. It will alleviate some pressure on the offensive line and help limit what the defensive line can generate. It could be a game for a lot of screens and quick run/pass options to attempt to stay ahead of the chains to prevent the defensive line from pinning their ears back.
Quiet Quinshon – After missing Week 1 due to an off the field issue, running back Quinshon Judkins has become a focal point of the offense. The rookie and former Ohio State Buckeye immediately became the starter once signed and has seen his carries go up each week.
A big back listed at 221 pounds with 4.48 speed, he has averaged over 100 yards from scrimmage through his four games. His lowest output of the season was his first game gaining 61 yards on 10 carries. Last week, he had his first game as a 100-yard rusher with 110 yards against Minnesota. With Judkins having 409 total yards and averaging 4.8 yards per carry, the Steelers defense will have to rally to the ball. Judkins has averaged 2.7 yards after contact, tied for eighth in league this year.
With a rookie quarterback making his second start of his career, Cleveland would like to get the running game going early to take pressure off their signal caller.
Go Big or Go Home – The Steelers easily had their best day running the ball in the Week 4 game against Minnesota. With 131 yards on the ground, they improved by almost 60 yards over their previous season high. They recorded 72 yards on the ground in Week 2. The boost came from adding more size up front.
Seventeen times in week four the Steelers had offensive lineman Spencer Anderson enter the game, report as eligible, and line up at tight end. Something they had done just three times in the previous three games albeit with success. Sixteen of those plays generated a total of 98 yards. One play was nullified by a penalty. They gained 71 yards on the ground averaging 5.92 yards per carry. The four passes they threw were all completed for a total of 27 yards.
With Anderson and Darnell Washington on the field, it’s like have seven offensive linemen up front. There was an obvious boost to the running game with the seven-headed monster moving defenders. With Calvin Austin out, Pittsburgh would love to be able to run the ball effectively and control the clock.
Create Confusion for the Opposing Quarterback – Rookie Dillon Gabriel will make his second start of his career this week after Cleveland traded away Joe Flacco to Cincinnati. Last week, Gabriel played well enough to not only keep the Browns competitive, but they had the lead in the fourth quarter. The Vikings scored with 35 seconds left in regulation to take the lead. Statistically, he was solid although 44 of his 190 passing yards came in the final 30 seconds of the game.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin’s goal in this game will be to make the rookie QB as uncomfortable as possible. Create as much pressure as they can, including mixing up their blitzes. Usage of twists, stunts, and overloaded alignments should come early and often. Coverages need to be shuffled and disguised, not sitting back in zone repeatedly.
Gabriel has a ton of starting experience with over 60 in college. So, he has seen a lot of blitzes and coverages but it’s still different in the NFL. If they can contain Judkins as stated above the onus will be on Gabriel to move the chains. This should give the Steelers an advantage.
Tighten on the TE’s – It has been said that a tight end is a rookie quarterback’s best friend. Gabriel has two best friends. Their names are David Njoku and Harold Fannin.
Both of those tight ends have been productive in the early season. Fannin leads the team in receptions with 21, is third in targets with 28 and third in yards with 173. Njoku is second in receptions with 20, second in yards with 195 (just 2 yards behind leader Jerry Jeudy) and second in targets. Combined they receive 32 percent of the team’s targets, 36 percent of the receptions and 36 percent of the yards received.
Pittsburgh, based on the league numbers, has been in the middle of rankings in tight end production allowed. Opposing teams have 21 receptions on 29 targets, for 250 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Last week, 10 of Gabriel’s 19 completions and both of his touchdown passes went to his tight end tandem. Take away the tight end options, and it makes things much more difficult for the rookie QB.
