Steelers @ Browns, Game 2 Preview

Steelers @ Browns, Game 2 Preview     By The Mighty Quinn

Overall Ratings: Steelers 73 out of 100, Browns 66.5 out of 100

Passing Game:

Quarterback: Steelers 8.5/10, Browns 7/10

The Franchise started and stayed hot, converting one 3^rd down with a 17 yard scramble and four more with his arm (the last being the 16-yard TD to Ward, when he threw behind Ward away from coverage).  His command of the offense was stellar, and he involved the TE�s early � something troubling and absent in the pre-season.  Ben never gave anyone a reason to question his decision making by throwing the ball up for grabs.  Only his questionable shoulder combined with the poor play by Leftwich cause the rating to drop this week.  In Derek Anderson�s short time as a starter in the NFL, he has faced 5 teams with winning records (including Dallas last week).  Those games may provide a more realistic picture of his true abilities � completing 51.1% of his throws for 1,072 yards, 7 TD�s and 5 interceptions.  That works out to a 71.2 QB rating.  All he�s done in 16 games has been to provide fantasy football owners with a reason to start him against lesser defenses.  He targeted Braylon Edwards on 11 of 24 passes against Dallas, which is understandable given the depleted receiving corps.  Anderson is rarely sent on designed roll outs.  He needs his pocket, and he certainly doesn�t need the dropped balls and penalties his unit generously provided.   

Steelers Receivers against Browns Pass Defenders:  Steelers 9/10, Browns 6/10

If you don�t have anything nice to say, keep your mouth shut unless it�s about the Browns secondary.  Against Dallas, the Browns played mostly a cover-2 which requires someone in the front seven to generate pressure.  That rarely happened.  On some occasions, CB Eric Wright played a press man-to-man on Owens while McDonald would give Crayton a cushion.  Cleveland LB�s and safeties must have been told that there were land mines buried in the middle of the field because the Romo to Witten combination found no resistance between the hash marks.  Mainly in the first half, Cleveland dropped 7 or 8 �men� into coverage but Dallas� passing game still couldn�t be slowed.  The LB�s didn�t appear to get deep enough and the threat of T.O. kept the safeties back.  For the game Romo completed 6 of 8 on 3^rd down.  If the Steelers choose to exploit this area, Miller, Spaeth, and Ward can run uncontested intermediate routes.  With safety Sean Jones out for a month, the Browns will have to count on some combination of Brodney Pool (questionable with a concussion), Nick Sorensen, and Mike Adams.  The Browns showed a nickel defense (Sorensen or Cousin were the additional DB�s) only a handful of times and I didn�t notice one occasion where they used 6 DB�s.  Someone should have 120 yards receiving against this group, likely by halftime.  This would be an easy week to involve Washington or Baker, too.            

Browns Receivers/Steelers Pass Defenders:  Steelers 6.5/10, Browns 6.5/10

Braylon Edwards put on a clinic last week against the Cowboys � a Nate Washington impersonation clinic.  He dropped 4 passes, including what could have easily been a 53-yard TD pass where he inexplicably showed alligator arms although there was no chance of getting tagged.  Not to worry, because he did add to the score sheet with 3 penalties.  To compound their problems, Donte Stallworth pulled a groin or a quad muscle � something south of the border � in warm-ups.  He has yet to practice this week and based on what Crennel said earlier, he�s doubtful Sunday night.  With Josh Cribbs out also, the Browns were left with Steptoe as their 2^nd WR option.  Because of the injuries, the Browns rarely went to 3 WR sets even when they needed to play catch-up.  Instead they often used 2 TE�s, with Winslow consistently lining up in the slot.  The other TE, Steve Heiden could be found on the line and in the backfield a few times.  Edwards has never produced monster numbers against the Steelers but they also can�t count on him to drop the ball on every other pass.  The Steelers need to concentrate on Winslow.  He was one of the few Browns that looked prepared and intense.  In �05 the Steelers matched Polamalu against Antonio Gates in San Diego.  I think Winslow Jr. is worth the attention, and the Steelers LB�s shouldn�t be expected to cover someone with his skills in the short zones.  In a gesture of fairness for the Browns� injury problems, Townsend will most likely sit out Sunday�s game.  In a physical battle, McFadden replacing Deshea isn�t a bad tradeoff.    

Line Play and Running Game:

Steelers� running game against Browns� run defense:  Steelers 8/10, Browns 6/10

Last season the Browns allowed the Steelers to gain 175 and 159 yards in their meetings.  I�m sure this contributed to the Browns signing Corey Williams from the Packers and Shaun Rogers from Detroit in free agency.  Against the Cowboys, the millions of dollars paid for 167 yards allowed on the ground.  At least in week 1, Cleveland kept things very basic in their 3-4, employing few run blitzes on normally only seven men in the box.  It seemed like the major issue was the inability of the Browns LB�s to shed blocks, and they took poor angles towards the RB�s.  Rogers could be a problem for the Steelers interior linemen.  Imagine a taller, 350 pound Casey Hampton that plays on 3^rd downs.  Dallas chose to double-team him on occasion at the snap of the ball to thwart his initial push, and then drop one blocker off to handle his assignment.  And whether this was Rogers� choice or the Browns scheme, Rogers often lined up at an angle to the center which took all of the guessing out of which 2 linemen needed to double him.  Whatever the case, the Steelers O-line isn�t as cohesive as the Cowboys�, so I would expect some issues inside.  Cleveland did allow Dallas seven carries of 10 yards or more last week.         

Browns� running game against Steelers� run defense:  Steelers 7.5/10, Browns 6/10

The Texans� running game along with the circumstances of the game kept the Steelers front 7 relatively untested in week 1.  Overall Jamal Lewis returned to his old form in 2007, but the Steelers did the dealing last year when Lewis was involved, holding him to a paltry 35 yards in each game.  Lewis isn�t the type of runner that strikes fear against this defense.  He rarely cuts back and takes a while to get moving.  Despite almost 5 ypc, he also had 4 carries of 1 yard or less in game 1.  Cleveland split their offense between 1 and 2-back sets early on, and then shifted mostly to one back once the game got out of hand, with Jason Wright seeing significant playing time as the receiving RB.  It�s early in the season and Cleveland showed neither the offensive discipline nor dedication to running the ball.  If Hampton stays motivated against C Hank Fraley, the Browns will quickly become one-dimensional.  As mentioned previously, Steve Heiden was used in a FB/H-back alignment on several occasions.            

Steelers� pass blocking against Browns� pass rush:  Steelers 6/10, Browns 4.5/10

If you watched Grieveland bow down to Dallas, you probably noticed Tony Romo throwing grass in the air to check wind direction, setting up a lemonade stand, and spell-checking his post game comments while the Browns pass rush showed all the physicality of a Ghandi protest.  They threw all of 3 blitzes at Romo until the score was 21-7, with one safety blitz from Adams.  That�s when it struck them that keeping 7 or 8 back in coverage prevents nothing when NO ONE CAN COVER.  No one on Cleveland�s line poses the threat that Mario Williams did last week, and Kamerion Wimbley is the only LB that shows some pass rushing ability despite how much the announcers discuss Willie McGinest�s heyday at the turn of the century.  Crennel and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker will have to use a more aggressive strategy against the Steelers or suffer the same beat down.  In the second game last year the Browns harassed Ben all day and brought him down 4 times.  I�m a little reluctant to praise the pass protectors yet, so let�s see if Kemoeatu and Hartwig communicate enough to minimize any damage in the backfield.   

Browns� pass blocking against Steelers� pass rush:  Steelers 7/10, Browns 8/10

In the credit where credit is due section, the Browns offensive line only allowed 1 sack last week, and it was questionable at that.  Pressure on Anderson was minimal early on as he started off fairly accurate.  Steinbach and Thomas on the left side are as reliable as you�ll find so Silverback and Keisel will need to put in some real work this week to harass Anderson.  Giving the Browns the benefit of the doubt here and ignoring the abortion that was the first meeting between the Steelers and Brown in �07, the Steelers will have to be more imaginative in their blitz package because the second game of the campaign saw them generate little pressure and no sacks of Anderson.  He simply stunk without anyone in his face.  I�m going to say this every week until they listen � it would be nice to see Timmons play more to take advantage of his speed on some interior blitzes.  Anderson isn�t the most mobile QB so getting him to move around can only lead to poor decisions.  

Special Teams:

Steelers return game /Browns coverage game:  Steelers 5/8, Browns 6.5/8

Nothing stood out on the Steelers� return units last week, except that they fair caught a punt for the 483^rd game in a row.  Mendenhall did average 23 yards on 2 returns.  The Browns kept the dangerous but rusty 2-Pac Jones from any game changing (not that they needed any) punt returns last week.  Cleveland really has no major issues with their coverage teams, nothing bad enough for the Steelers to swing the momentum.      

Browns return game/Steelers coverage game:  Steelers 4/8, Browns 7.5/8 (without Cribbs, 5.5)

Josh Cribbs saw limited practice time this week with a bad ankle, but he was quoted today saying he can�t wait to face the Steelers.  That�s bad news.  He returned 2 kickoffs and 1 punt for TD�s last season, and his presence was sorely missed in the opener.  In an amazing use of strategy, the Steelers varied their kickoffs against the Texans to keep specialist Andre Davis off-balance.  Who needs supposed special-teams goofs like Kriewaldt and Morey when you have Donovan Woods who took part in 3 stops?  Whatever ingenious kinks the Steelers employ this week in their kicking game, they�ll need to execute them perfectly.  

Steelers kicking game/Browns kicking game:  Steelers 6.5/8, Browns 6.5/8

Phil Dawson remains one of the most solid kickers in the league, as does Jeff Reed.  Each accounted for a touchback on Kickoff Weekend.  Reed would be wise to practice his tackling technique this week, as he�ll be the last line of defense should Cribbs weave his way through arm-tackles.  Mitch Berger proved the Steelers made the correct decision on the violently contested punt to the death competition. 

Tangibles and Intangibles:  Steelers 5/6, Browns 2/6

Predicting current performance based on similar situations in past seasons isn�t the best way to arrive at a likely outcome.  However, in the case of the Browns, it�s hard to ignore the unknown forces, karma, and malaise that affect their performance every year when the black and gold are involved.  In their first meeting in 2006 the Browns were up by 10 with less than 5 minutes to play and lost.  In game 2 last year, they led the Steelers 21-6 in the second quarter and blew that lead.  Even in games that don�t include the Steelers, but have a connection to their ultimate success, the Browns fail.  Anderson threw 4 picks and they lost to the Bengals in game 15 of �07, allowing the Steelers to win the division.  It�s difficult to discount the Browns� consistent distaste for victory under the anathema of the three hypocycloids.

Staring down the barrel of success, the Steelers blinked a few times last year in winnable situations � against Arizona, Denver and the Jets.  Tomlin�s team needs to seize the moment, realizing that dealing a second home loss to their main competition in the AFC North could send them crawling back into the ground for another 17 years.  They failed previous tests of their mettle and concentration.  Maybe they�ve learned something in the last 12 months.

The Browns are saying this is their Super Bowl.  Not sure how a team that�s never been to a Super Bowl will react.  They can�t offer anything less passionate than last week.  I expect their best.  As usual, that won�t be quite good enough.   

Steelers 27   Browns 23