There is no love lost between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers. They are going to square off this week to determine which team is in the driver’s seat for the final AFC playoff spot. The Browns already beat Pittsburgh once, and the Steelers cannot afford to let it happen again.
Here are the Steelers’ three keys to victory this week.
Take care of the football
The first time these two teams played, Pittsburgh turned the football over four times. Meanwhile, the defense didn’t force a single turnover. This is part of the reason the Steelers turned to quarterback Devlin Hodges this week. No one is asking him to be Ben Roethlisberger but at this point he just needs to be better and taking care of the football than Mason Rudolph.
Forget about the last matchup
There was a whole lot of nonsense at the end of the last game between these two teams. The Steelers must put all that aside, along with the poor performance by the offense and defense and just focus on winning this one game. You can bet the Browns are going to come out hyped and looking to rattle the Steelers. If Pittsburgh wants to win they can’t get into those head games.
Run the football (I’m talking to you offensive line)
Last week, Benny Snell Jr. and the offensive line got on the same page and when the Steelers needed to run the football, they found a way. Snell had 98 rushing yards on 21 carries that included a 23-yard run. James Conner is listed as doubtful and Jaylen Samuels seems to be falling out of favor as a runner. This means it’s going to be a heavy dose of Snell and the offensive line minus Maurkice Pouncey will have to get it done.
