The Pittsburgh Steelers have enjoyed life with Aaron Rodgers to this point as they enter their official bye week with a 3-1 record. After posting a convincing victory over the Minnesota Vikings across the Atlantic, the NFL has afforded Mike Tomlin's team a leisurely itinerary for their return trip with no Week 5 game to prepare for this coming weekend.
According to one of the franchise's all-time greats, the Steelers will actually have longer to decompress and not stress due to their Week 6 opponent.
Ben Roethlisberger, who in the near future may be enshrined in Canton but for now has a podcast called Footbahlin', took the opportunity to dismiss the Cleveland Browns on his latest episode.
“I said it’s our second bye in a row,” the former quarterback said per Yahoo Sports. “I don’t foresee a big issue with the Browns.”
Now, one can understand why he might say that. Cleveland is 1-3 and rookie Dillon Gabriel will be making his first NFL start in a few days after original starter Joe Flacco's performances left something to be desired.
But the Browns still have some playmakers on defense and have an upset of the Green Bay Packers already on their ledger. The Steelers haven't exactly had the staunchest competition with their victories coming over the Patriots, Vikings and Jets. Though Rodgers is winning, his offense is near the bottom of the league in yards per game and the usually stingy Pittsburgh defense has also not shown its traditional teeth yet.
All to say, Big Ben could regret this one. The Browns will surely use this as motivation as they try to get their season back on track. Of course, they are starting a rookie QB in a European country in a few days so they have plenty on their plate that doesn't involve listening to podcasts for slights.
They'll get around to it, though.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Steelers Legend Sees Game vs. Browns as Nothing More Than Another Bye Week.
