Home Quick Hitters SCB Steelers Quick Hitters: The “Shutdown Browns” Edition

SCB Steelers Quick Hitters: The “Shutdown Browns” Edition

by Steeldad

Good Victory Monday to you Steelers’ fans.

I did not see THAT coming and I’m not sure anyone else did either but what we got was 38-7 blowout win over the Cleveland Browns. So bad was the game that CBS chose to switch to a “more competitive” game in the fourth quarter. As I do every Monday morning I give you my thoughts on the good and bad of the game. Let’s go!!

The Good

-A rivalry is one in which both combatants secure victories on a relatively normal ‘back and forth’ pattern. The rivalry we currently have with Baltimore is an example of this. What we currently have with Cleveland is not a rivalry. It is a one-sided affair and until the Browns start to beat the Steelers more regularly it will remain this way.

-Terrific job by James Conner yesterday who ran as hard as I’ve seen him run in his career. Every carry was a battle for him and more often than not he was the winner.

-If your running back has a good day than your offensive line does too. Huge props to those guys up front especially rookie Kevin Dotson who filled in for David DeCastro. The OL was consistently getting to the second level and that’s never good for a defense.

-The Steelers’ defense was up to the task against the NFL’s best running game. Kareem Hunt was an absolute non-factor rushing for 40 yards on 13 carries.

-I’d like to just praise Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt for the constant harassment of Baker Mayfield but the truth is that Stephon Tuitt, Cam Heyward and others got in on the act as well. Superb job by the D.

-I guess we can put the “Minkah needs to make a play” stuff to rest now. And I was guilty of it so I’ll take my medicine.

-Chase Claypool is the most dynamic receiver from the 2020 Draft and nothing will change my mind on that.

-Robert Spillane is not Devin Bush. Not even close, but I’ll say this for the former Western Michigan Bronco… He brings the lumber when he tackles and he’s rarely out of position. Good job by him yesterday.

-Yesterday wasn’t Ben Roethlisberger’s best game in terms of numbers but he didn’t turn the ball over and he again showed that he has a lot of faith in all of the receivers he has on the field at any given time.

-The Steelers third down defense did a 180 from last week against the Eagles. After seeing the Eagles rack up a success rate of 70% on third downs, they held the Browns to just 1 of 12. This my friends is coaching and players reacting to that coaching.

Tweet of the Day… Give the kids some love!!

The Bad

-Horrible news about Devin Bush. The second year LB suffered a torn ACL and is lost for the season. While Spillane played well in his stead, Keith Butler is going to have to find a way to replace Bush’s production. I think you’ll see a lot of Spillane on first down and then a combination of guys like Marcus Allen, Terrell Edmunds, Cam Sutton and maybe Ulysees Gilbert replacing him on passing downs.

-Joe Haden still isn’t playing as well as he did last season. Missed tackles and poor coverage at times are still a problem for him.

-Randy Fichtner has had two pretty damn good weeks in a row but the RPO’s (run-pass options) looked awful on Sunday. Part of that is execution to be sure, but any of those three RPOs early in the game could have and should have been intercepted. Big Ben just doesn’t look comfortable with them to be very honest.

-Maurkice Pouncey is not 100%. That foot seemed to bother him throughout the game but being the warrior he is he stuck it out. I’m concerned this is going to be an issue for him.

-Danny Smith’s Special Teams’ units have been great so far this season but there were a couple of punts where the Browns got much closer to Dustin Colquitt than any of us would prefer.

-After four straight home games, the Steelers hit the road for the next three. They will play Tennessee (who remained unbeaten with an OT win over Houston), Baltimore who is 5-1 and Dallas. If there’s a silver lining here it’s that with Dallas doing so poorly many Steelers’ fans may scoop up a ton of tickets on the secondhand market.

-Overall the officiating wasn’t bad Sunday with a couple of exceptions being on pass interference calls on Eric Ebron and Joe Haden. In Ebron’s case, we see that type of thing every single week and it doesn’t get called. As for Haden, he bit on a double move but again, I’ve seen more contact between my dogs sleeping on opposite ends of the couch.

Coming Up

Originally scheduled to play in week four, the Steelers and Titans will finally hook up Sunday in Nashville in what will no doubt be the marquee game of the week. The Steelers’ stiff run defense will be tested by Derrick Henry and the offense will be facing a major challenge against a good Titans defense. This will be a big challenge ahead of an even bigger one in Baltimore.

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Have a great day Steeler Nation!

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2 comments

bob.graff October 19, 2020 - 1:25 pm

I ask you guys about Claypool before the draft and you guys gave it an “aaaaa oh well”. He has some real upside and seems like a great young man. I KNEW IT

steeldad October 20, 2020 - 2:29 pm

We liked him a lot Bob but we didn’t see him being taken in the second round and certainly didn’t see this type of play out of him either. I’d get bored with this blog if I were right all the time! LoL

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