The Pittsburgh Steelers are back from abroad and looking for a bit of revenge.
They’ll welcome the AFC North rival Cleveland Browns to Acrisure Stadium for an NFL Week 8 matchup Nov. 1. It will have been a little less than a month since these teams met in Week 4, with Cleveland taking home a 27--24 overtime victory at Huntington Bank Field.
The winner will take sole possession of the AFC North lead after the Baltimore Ravens fell behind with a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last week.
Here are USA TODAY’s storylines to watch in what could be one of the most important games of the season for both teams.
Can the Steelers finish drives?
Pittsburgh has a reasonably healthy 643 yards
of offense the past two weeks against Tampa Bay and New Orleans. That production, however, has translated into just two combined touchdowns in regulation.
Kicker Chris Boswell has been busy with seven field goals to salvage some points. That’s been plenty to escape with wins thanks to the excellence of the Steelers defense that has limited the Buccaneers and Saints to an average of 14.5 points and 252.5 yards per game.
The Browns were more productive than that back in Week 4, though, even as they rank 28th in scoring offense at 19 points per game and 24th in total offense at 299.4 yards per game. They totaled 372 yards against DC Patrick Graham’s defense, which theoretically applies pressure to quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Co. to keep up.
Contributing to the problem last week was the fact that the Steelers possessed the ball just seven times in the entire afternoon against the Saints in Paris. In those types of ball controlled environments, it’s crucial to come away with more than the Steelers have if they intend to keep their hot 5-2 start going into the bye week.
Has Rico Dowdle found his footing?
Jaylen Warren has more than held down the backfield for the Steelers with 855 scrimmage yards in the first seven games. That total ranks fourth in the NFL.
Dowdle had not found anything close to that level of success with Pittsburgh despite rushing for 1,000 yards in each of the past two seasons. His Week 2 injury against New England cost him some time, and he was ineffective in his three appearances before last week, in which he totaled just 114 yards.
Against the Saints, he ran the ball well in relief of Warren with nine carries for 41 yards. That’s an average of 4.6 per carry. He then added six catches for 45 yards in the passing game to finish the day with 86 scrimmage yards.
That’s likely a lot closer to what coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Omar Khan had in mind for him when they gave him a two-year, $12.25 million contract in the offseason.
If he can maintain that level of production, that will make the Steelers offense that much more dangerous, even when Warren is off the field for a drive or two.
Can the MLBs continue their momentum?
Payton Wilson and Patrick Queen were everywhere against New Orleans. The former had a game-changing interception to open the second half and the latter nearly had a pick of his own.
They combined for seven stops, defined by scouting website Pro Football Focus as plays that result in failure for opposing offenses. They missed just two tackles, helping the defense hold New Orleans to 18 rushing yards for the entire day.
In the passing game, they allowed 39 combined yards on the seven occasions when Saints quarterback Tyler Shough targeted them.
That’s solid work that was a stark departure from their outing against Cleveland in Week 4. That night, quarterback Deshaun Watson torched them for 77 yards on seven targets, and they missed four total tackles.
Having witnessed how good this defense can look when these two are playing well, DC Patrick Graham no doubt wants to see improvement from them in this one. Especially considering the struggles the Browns have otherwise faced on offense in 2026.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Steelers' Rico Dowdle looking to progress up on-ramp after injury
