No one went into Sunday’s game with the Cleveland Browns thinking the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to upset the Browns on the road. The Steelers were minus eight starters and had their eyes squarely on the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile the Browns knew this was a must-win game and for the most part played like it.
In the end the Steelers put up a great fight with backups in the game but fell to the Browns 24-22.
Offensively, quarterback Mason Rudolph was pretty much exactly when we expected. Once Rudolph got settled in, made several big throws and finished with a solid 315 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. His effort set up some interesting conversation this offseason about his future as the team’s starter.
Defensively, this group put up an excellent fight minus four of their best players. Even without linebacker T.J. Watt and defensive lineman Cam Heyward, the Steelers applied solid pressure on Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.
The loss sets up a rematch between these two teams in Pittsburgh next week in the first round of the playoffs.
