Prediction
It is supposed to be a rainy morning leading up to kickoff at 1:00 p.m. at Heinz Field. Those conditions should point the Steelers in the direction of playing physical, run-first offense, a staple of Steelers football history.
Devlin Hodges will be looking to remain poised and confident while manning the passing attack. His biggest job will be not turning the ball over.
That doesn’t mean playing purely conservatively.
“It just goes back to being prepared, taking what the defense gives you,” Hodges said after practice Wednesday. “Our ‘D’ is playing really good right now, so just not turning the ball over is (the goal). We want to go and score every drive, but at the same time, it’s about taking care of the ball and doing what it takes to win.”
Hodges knows not many football experts give him a chance to be successful in this league.
“I don’t have anything to lose,” Hodges said. “I was undrafted.”
He’s heard it all before.
“I won’t change who I am,” Hodges said. “I go out there and have fun, compete, play hard and try to do whatever it takes to win each and every week. I won’t look ahead. I’m just looking forward to this week and playing the Browns.”
One thing is for sure… the offense, from the lineman to the coaches are confident in Hodges abilities, no matter what the so-called experts say.
“He plays with a lot of confidence, for sure,” Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. “You wouldn’t be able to tell he’s from a small school. He has played against big schools when he was at a small school. He plays with a sense of ease, and he plays with a sense of rhythm. He’s been good when we’ve asked him to be for us.”
Now all he has to do is lead the Steelers to a huge victory, solidifying their hold on the #6 seed in the AFC, and likely knocking the Browns out of playoff contention.
Mike Tomlin is asking for just one thing from Hodges…
“There’s going to be enough pressure on Devlin in just performing so I’m not going to add to it by talking about expectations,” Tomlin said. “I expect him to not kill us.”
Even with the Steelers missing several key players, when it comes to the Browns… well, remember the scene in Full Metal Jacket, when Gunnery Sgt. Hartman asks Private Joker if he has a ‘war face’, and Joker screams out loud, but Sgt. Hartman is hardly impressed saying, “You don’t scare me! Work on it!”?
That’s the Browns to me, they just don’t scare me, so they are just going to have to prove it to me.
I see a very motivated Steelers defense coming out in this game and laying some hard hits to set the tone. I like Hodges to manage the game taking what the Browns are giving, while Snell and the offensive line take control of the trenches.
It won’t be pretty, but “Steelers Football” rarely is. There will be no Cleveland sweep for the first time since 1988. There will be one team moving forward, and one team planning on next year at the end of this one.
The Steelers hold on and put the Browns out to pasture.