Category: 2020 Steelers vs. Browns NFL Week 17

Steelers vs Browns injury update: Several Steelers miss Wednesday practice

The Steelers rested a handful of starters on Wednesday.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers got back to work on Wednesday in preparation for their Sunday showdown with the Cleveland Browns and several key Steelers were unable to practice.

QB Ben Roethlisberger (Non-injury related) DNP

LB Marcus Allen (Stinger) FP

K Chris Boswell (Groin) FP

S Terrell Edmunds (Shoulder) DNP

C Maurkice Pouncey (Non-injury related) DNP

G David DeCastro (Non-injury related) DNP

LB T.J. Watt (Non-injury related) DNP

DE Stephon Tuitt (Back) DNP

LB Ola Adeniyi (Shoulder) FP

DE Tyson Alualu (Ankle) DNP

DT Cam Heyward (Non-injury related) DNP

The Steelers have already said Roethlisberger won’t play this weekend. Head coach Mike Tomlin also hinted depending on availability, there could be other starters who will rest this weekend. Pittsburgh has secured the AFC North and can do no worse than the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.

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Browns forced to close facilities due to COVID-19 contract tracing

The Steelers could have to deal with another team’s COVID-19 situation this week.

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The Cleveland Browns announced on Wednesday that they were closing their facilities to perform contract tracing due to multiple positive COVID-19 tests. According to reports, it was one member of the coaching staff and one player.

Cleveland hosts the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend in the final game of the regular season. This puts 10 Browns on the Reserve/COVID-19 list heading into the weekend’s game.

Pittsburgh has nothing to play for and the Browns have everything. Even at 10 wins, they are not even assured of a playoff spot. This puts both teams in an awkward position depending on how the rest of the week plays out.

The Steelers have already made it official quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won’t dress for the game. With the playoffs starting next week there’s nothing the league can do in fairness to accommodate the Browns that won’t be a serious detriment to the Steelers. This is a game that must be played as scheduled no matter the situation for the Browns.

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Steelers vs Browns: Betting line moves to 9.5-points

The Steelers are currently 9.5-point underdogs to the Browns on the road.

The big, but unsurprising news from the Pittsburgh Steelers this week was the decision to rest quarterback Ben Roethlisberger this week against the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers have nothing to play for this week so head coach Mike Tomlin made the decision that rest was more important than beating the Browns.

Oddsmakers jumped all over this and quickly moved the betting line from 6.5 points to 9.5 in favor of the Browns according to BetMGM.

Pittsburgh plans to start Mason Rudolph at quarterback this week and you have to assume the offense will continue to struggle. Rudolph’s last experience with the Browns was the infamous brawl with Myles Garrett last season, so I’m sure the young quarterback is looking for some payback.

Nevertheless, the Browns are playing for their playoff lives and the Steelers are just wanting to get out of this game without any major injuries so it makes sense the oddsmakers don’t have much faith in Pittsburgh.

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Steelers QB Mason Rudolph got rocked last season in Cleveland. Can he guide Pittsburgh to a win this time around?

Steelers Wire looks at the chances of Ben Roethlisberger’s backup leading the team to a win in Cleveland.

No matter what side of the Mason Rudolph fence you’re on, there’s nothing Steelers Nation would rather see than revenge for Helmetgate with a win in Cleveland.

Sure, the chances of the Pittsburgh Steelers beating the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium with reserves starting are slim-to-none. But that doesn’t change head coach Mike Tomlin’s goal of pulling off a win.

Does Rudolph, who is 5-3 as a starter, have what it takes to pull off a win in Cleveland? If history is any indication, no. In the 21-7 loss last November, Rudolph took four sacks, fumbled, and tossed four picks to one touchdown.

Sunday will be Rudolph’s first start since his Week 12 third-quarter benching in Cincinnati last season. Tomlin benched him after the first drive, in favor of Devlin “Duck” Hodges, citing that the Steelers needed a spark and “Mason wasn’t doing enough.”

We’ll get a chance to see how far Rudolph has come since then. Certainly, his completion versus the Browns in Week 6 and 2-for-3 in Dallas was not enough to feel confident about Rudolph’s chances on Sunday.

It seems odd that Tomlin would tip his hand to Cleveland and announce the decision to start Rudolph over Ben Roethlisberger so early in the week. Perhaps it’s an attempt to instill confidence in the third-year QB? Either way, Rudolph is getting first-team reps in practice this week, as he has every Wednesday this season. He’ll need all work he can get.

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Steelers to bench QB Ben Roethlisberger vs the Browns

The Steelers will start Mason Rudolph this week against the Browns.

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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke to the media on Tuesday and announced that Mason Rudolph will start at quarterback versus the Cleveland Browns this weekend and he would be resting Ben Roethlisberger.

The Steelers have very little to play for this weekend as they are already assured a spot in the playoffs and can be no worse than the No. 3 seed.

In case you just became a Steelers fan this week, you might not know the history between the Browns and Rudolph. Last season, in the Steelers first game between Cleveland, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett got into a scrum with Rudolph at the end of the game which ended with Garrett bludgeoning Rudolph on the head with his own helmet.

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Steelers open as 6.5-point underdogs to Browns

The Steelers are big road underdogs this week against Cleveland.

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With the understanding that the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to rest some starters in Week 17, Pittsburgh is opening as 6.5-point road underdogs to the Cleveland Browns according to BetMGM.

These two teams are coming into this game from very different places. The Steelers secured the AFC North crown on Sunday with their huge comeback win over the Indianapolis Colts. Meanwhile, the Browns fell to the hapless New York Jets, pushing them to the edge of not making the playoffs at all.

The Browns have everything to play for as a playoff spot isn’t assured. For Pittsburgh, the worst they can end up as the No. 3 seed in the AFC even with a loss. It’s highly likely head coach Mike Tomlin will rest some starters, starting with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Historically, Steelers versus Browns in Week 17 has been the swan song before Cleveland fires their head coach. This time around the Steelers won’t cost anyone their job but could spoil the Browns most promising season in more than a decade.

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Should the Steelers rest their starters vs the Browns?

The Steelers will need to decide quickly if they plan to rest their starters this week.

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Thanks to a massive comeback by the Pittsburgh Steelers this week, they have secured their seventh AFC North crown under head coach Mike Tomlin. There is still the business at hand of the team’s Week 17 road game against the Cleveland Browns before the playoffs start.

As of this week, the Steelers are the No. 2 seed in the AFC but depending on what happens in Week 17, Pittsburgh can do no worse than the No. 3 seed. In a normal year this would be a huge deal because the top two teams in each conference would get a bye week leading into the playoffs. But with the bye week only going to the top seed, and win or lose Pittsburgh can’t drop lower than the No. 3 seed, do they use Week 17 as a de facto bye week?

My vote is no. Everyone saw the Steelers really get some traction in the second half against the Indianapolis Colts and by making their comeback quieted the critics and proved to themselves they are a contender.

Resting their starters would provide the team with some rest and there’s no denying it they need it. After having their schedules moved around twice due to other team’s COVID-19 issues, this team is exhausted.

But is it more of a detriment to give up the momentum they got in the second half of today’s game? Especially for Ben Roethlisberger, the guy who needs the rest the most?

But I want to pass the question off to Steeler Nation. Should the Steelers choose rest or momentum?

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