Category: 2021 Week 8 Steelers vs. Browns

Browns QB Baker Mayfield expected to practice fully on Wednesday

The Steelers should prepare for Baker Mayfield to start this weekend.

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The big question surrounding the Cleveland Browns this week as they prepare to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers is whether or not starting quarterback Baker Mayfield will play. Head coach Kevin Stefanski met with the media on Wednesday and based on what he said, it sounds like he is planning on having Mayfield in the lineup on Sunday.

Stefanski said he expects Mayfield to practice fully and take the starter reps and Case Keenum to take all the second-team reps. Keenum started in place on Mayfield last week while Mayfield continues to deal with a shoulder injury. If Mayfield cannot go, Keenum will get the start again.

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Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger takes not-so-subtle shot at Browns QBs

Ben Roethlisberger says he’s glad he’s not the winningest QB at FirstEnergy Stadium.

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For many years, the Cleveland Browns were something of a running joke in the NFL. This was especially true among the Pittsburgh Steelers fan base. The reason was for many seasons of Cleveland futility, the winningest quarterback in the Browns home stadium was none other than Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

However, the arrival of Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield has changed that, a point Roethlisberger was relieved to share when he spoke to the media on Wednesday. Roethlisberger also talked about the rivalry, playing in his home state and getting back to the business of football after the bye week.

Roethlisberger owns a 24-3-1 record lifetime against the Browns. Unfortunately, one of those losses was in the first round of last year’s playoffs. So while this game is important for plenty of reasons, a little payback might be one of them.

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Steelers vs Browns tale of the tape: Defense

Let’s see which defense has the edge this week.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns are some fascinating parallels to their respective defenses. When Cleveland and Pittsburgh square off this weekend, the outcome will depend heavily on which defense plays better. Let’s compare the two defenses and see who has the advantage.

Steelers OT Zach Banner is back and ready to play

Mike Tomlin wouldn’t comment on if Zach Banner is playing vs the Browns this week.

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This week the Pittsburgh Steelers could finally have offensive tackle Zach Banner back on the field. Head coach Mike Tomlin spoke to the media on Tuesday and indicated Banner is all the way back.

Tomlin wasn’t willing to commit to what Banner’s role would be on the team but he didn’t rule out some sort of offensive tackle rotation including Banner in addition to Dan Moore Jr. and Chuks Okorafor.

Banner was supposed to be the starting right tackle to start the season. Unfortunately, Banner wasn’t fully recovered from his torn ACL and was forced to start the season on the IR, designated to return. This pushed Chuks Okorafor to the right side and rookie Dan Moore Jr. became the team’s starting left tackle.

Worst-case scenario, Banner could temporarily return to his role as the team’s sixth offensive lineman and we could get No. 72 reporting eligible to help add some punch to the run game.

Eventually, we look for Banner to take over one of the starting tackle spots. Moore and Okorafor have both had their ups and downs so this week’s road divisional game against the Cleveland Browns could go a long way toward sorting out the division of labor and Tomlin often puts it.

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Steelers practice squad: Pittsburgh protects former Browns DB Karl Joseph, 3 others for Week 8

The Steelers protected four players, including former Browns DB Karl Joseph, for their Week 8 brawl with Cleveland.

The NFL carried over some successful rules from the 2020 season, including practice squad protections. Teams can protect up to four of the most valued players on their practice squad each week, preventing them from being signed by other teams.

Teams that play on Sundays can designate protected players each Tuesday at 4 p.m.

For the second week, the Steelers protected defensemen Karl Joseph and Taco Charlton, along with wide receivers Anthony Miller and Steven Sims. These four are not eligible to sign with another team until after Sunday’s game.

This week, Pittsburgh travels to Cleveland to take on the Browns on Halloween.

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Steelers vs Browns tale of the tape: Offense

How to the Steelers and Browns offensive positional units match up?

The 2021 NFL season hasn’t gone according to plan for the Pittsburgh Steelers or Cleveland Browns. Injuries on both teams, paired with being in the best division in football have forced both teams to the bottom and they are scrambling to stay in the playoff hunt.

Let’s do a quick tale of the tape comparing the top offensive players for each team.

Breaking down the Browns’ murky QB situation as Steelers prepare for Cleveland

Browns QB Baker Mayfield might just wake up Sunday morning feeling dangerous.

Baker Mayfield circles the two Browns-Steelers matchups on the calendar each year. He has his heart set on being the quarterback who takes on the Pittsburgh Steelers in front of the home crowd on Halloween — but injuries could keep him sidelined.

In Week 2, in an attempt to tackle Texans defender Justin Reid — who picked Mayfield off — the quarterback suffered a complete torn labrum of his left, non-throwing shoulder. Four games later, Mayfield re-aggravated the injury in a repeat attempt to tackle a Cardinals defender he threw the ball to.

(Maybe re-think trying to redeem yourself, Baker?)

The next quarter, same game, T.J. Watt’s big brother J.J. Watt sacked Mayfield, causing a fracture of the humerus bone in the same shoulder, the quarterback disclosed to Fox’s Jay Glazer. Mayfield said the fracture is preventing his rotator cuff from firing.

“I need that fracture to heal for me to get back out there,” Mayfield told Glazer.

The Steelers aren’t dumb enough to think that Mayfield will take the field with a broken shoulder. Nevertheless, the Browns have no plans to tip their hat as to which quarterback they’re going to trot out in Cleveland Sunday afternoon.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told the Cleveland media that he isn’t ruling Mayfield out versus the Steelers, but that time will tell as the practice week rolls on.

“It’s hard to say how it’s going to play out,” said Stefanski. “I’m not in the prediction business. I think we’ve just got to work through all of it. The quarterback position is no different than some of those other positions where guys’ availability, you might not know Wednesday; you might not know Friday.”

What we do know is that Mayfield hasn’t practiced, but Keenum is.

In his first start since 2019, Keenum led the Browns in a win over the Denver Broncos, going 22-for-36 on 205 yards and a score.

Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that Keenum hasn’t won back-to-back starts since 2018, but one of them was a 24-17 win against the Steelers in Week 12.

“Keenum’s been in the league for a long time and has played solid ball his whole career, so we know what to do,” Steelers defensive tackle Chris Wormley said.

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Steelers TE Eric Ebron on losing to the Browns in the playoffs: ‘They whooped our ass at home’

Eric Ebron says what we were all thinking about this week’s game.

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When Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Eric Ebron spoke to the media on Monday, he didn’t pull any punches about how bad things ended for the Steelers in the playoffs last season.

In case you don’t recall, the Steelers spotted the Cleveland Browns 28 points in the first quarter of the Wild Card playoff round and Despite outscoring the Browns 37-20 after that point, still came up short.

According to Ebron, if that playoff loss isn’t enough to get you up for the game, you might want to pick a new vocation.

“They whooped our ass at our home and sent us home,” Ebron said. “If you all can’t get motivated for that, you probably shouldn’t be playing football.”

Every player who was on that field last season should have all the motivation they need to come out and avoid the humiliation of that playoff loss.

Ebron didn’t hold back on Monday talking about this or his lack of targets this season. Ebron has plenty of reasons to be wound up for this week’s game. Ebron is a competitor and feels like he can help this offense but at the same time is staring down free agency.

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Looking back at the Steelers vs Browns rivalry

The Steelers have owned this rivalry over the past two decades but is the tide turning?

The Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers have one of the most storied rivalries in all of the NFL. This week the rivalry is renewed with their first showdown of the 2021 NFL season. Let’s take a quick look back at how this game has gone in recent years.

Steelers open as 3.5-point underdogs vs Browns

Here is the opening line for Steelers vs Browns.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers come off the bye this week and prepare to hit the road and take on the Cleveland Browns. The opening line for this game according to the Tipico Sportsbook has Pittsburgh as 3.5-point underdogs to Cleveland.

This season the Steelers and Browns have both underperformed compared to preseason expectations. The Browns currently sit at 4-3 and in this place in the AFC North while the Steelers are 3-3 and in last place in the division.

The over/under for this game is 40.5 points. Both offenses have struggled in recent weeks to put points on the board, largely due to injuries. The status of Cleveland starting quarterback Baker Mayfield is still up in the air and the Browns could end up starting backup Case Keenum for a second-straight game.

If you were placing a bet on this game, are you taking the Steelers and the points or will the home Browns get its second-straight win? Let us know in the comments.

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