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Good Victory Tuesday to you Steelers fans.
For the 29th straight season that the Cleveland Browns have played football they will finish with a record worse than the Pittsburgh Steelers. What a stat that is right? Not only that, but the Steelers swept the Browns in 2021 as well. These were my thoughts and observations during their 26-14 win in what is likely the final home game for Ben Roethlisberger.
Offense
- Let’s be honest. Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t good last night in the second half. He was better in the first half and was the victim of several drops as well. But he made throws when he had to and his team picked up the slack on what turned out to be a magical night for him in the Steel City.
- Big Ben finished 24/46 for 123 yards with a TD to Diontae Johnson and a pick at the end of the first half. There was ZERO reason for him to have thrown 34 times in the first half but that’s another story.
- And speaking of another story… Najee Harris was brilliant. He carried 28 times for 188 yards and a score. He also added three receptions for 18 yards. During the game he broke Franco Harris’ rookie record for season rushing yards as well.
- Part of Harris’ success was a rejuvenated offensive line. With JC Hassenauer anchoring the middle in place of Kendrick Green, the OL consistently moved the Browns off the line of scrimmage and got to the second level. This is something we haven’t seen much in 2021.
- The Steelers need wide receiver help. Never dreamed I’d write that but they do. Diontae Johnson can’t do it all. James Washington will be gone and Chase Claypool just can’t be relied upon.
- The Red Zone offense was atrocious and I’ll get to that below.
- I think you saw why Chuks Okorafor is likely playing elsewhere in 2022. He struggled all night with Jadeveon Clowney. Granted, Clowney is a season and talented veteran but he’s also on the down-side of his career.
Tweet of the Day… No words necessary
'An appropriate ending to a memorable night'. https://t.co/U3OjZwkrU4 pic.twitter.com/U9gDllHvfD
— BigBen7.com (@_BigBen7) January 4, 2022
Defense
- Nine sacks. Nine sacks!!
- T.J. Watt recorded four of those and now has 21.5 for the season. With one sack on Sunday in Baltimore he will tie the NFL record held by Michael Strahan. He also batted down several passes and was such a thorn in the Browns’ side that they were literally using three blockers at times to negate him.
- The defensive effort last night was tremendous. Aided by one of the dumber play-callers I’ve ever seen, the Steelers harassed Baker Mayfield and limited Nick Chubb to a couple of big runs.
- Minkah Fitzpatrick thankfully didn’t have to be the only guy making tackles last night but he did prove again that he’s a great guy to have as a last line of defense.
- Alex Highsmith is getting better every, single week. Those sacks that he was “close to” before are now becoming sacks. Reminds me of the rise of Bud Dupree a bit.
- I can’t recall ever seeing a guy who looked like a complete bust as a ‘traded for player’ who became such an important part of the defense… Ahkello Witherspoon everyone. Looks like a guy who is playing for a contract and who wants to be in Pittsburgh.
- Cam Heyward has a permanent spot in this section. Another tremendous effort last night anchoring the defensive line.
- Joe Haden and Cam Sutton were both victims of really bad pass interference calls last night.
- Super athletic play by Tre Norwood on that late game interception.
Special Teams
- There is no way to say how sorry we are for Pressley Harvin III losing his father. I lost mine at a young age too and you never really get past it. Sadly, I think Harvin’s status as the Steelers’ punter heading into 2022 is on thin ice. Corliss Waitman has been tremendous in his stead. His punt out of the end zone last night while under heavy pressure was awesome. It didn’t necessarily win him the job but I think Waitman will be punting for someone in 2022.
- Anyone else have a heart attack every time Ray Ray McCloud is back to field a punt?
- There aren’t enough words to express the importance and brilliance of Chris Boswell. I’ll leave it at that.
- Derek Watt and Ulysees Gilbert each had some big tackles on Special Teams last night.
Coaching
- Red Zone failures are never the fault of a single person. Sometimes the defense is just the “right” one and sometimes lack of execution is a death knell. But last evening Matt Canada’s play-calling was abysmal. Najee Harris largely powered the offense down the field and then it was like he suddenly disappeared or Canada forgot he was on the team. There was zero reason to have gone away from the run down there.
- Kudos to the entire defensive staff for their gameplan last night. No Joe Schobert. No Devin Bush. No Chris Wormley. No Isaiah Buggs. They were forced to use Marcus Allen at linebacker for the majority of the game and they managed to keep the Cleveland offense at bay. Much of this was due to the idiotic play-calling of their head coach who forgot Nick Chubb existed but I’m fine with that.
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