The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns 27-6 on Sunday. Pittsburgh will go into the bye week 6-2 overall and in sole possession of first place in the AFC North. The streak continues, as the Browns haven’t defeated the Steelers in Pittsburgh since 2003.
As always, here is my weekly stock report after the Steelers’ dominant win over Cleveland.
Stock Up
RBs Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle
Coming into the contest, Cleveland struggled to defend the run. The Steelers took that to heart, as Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle set the tone offensively.
Dowdle got the scoring started for the Steelers with a nine-yard touchdown run. Warren posted over 100 yards rushing in the first half, while getting into the end zone himself in the third quarter. The Steelers’ 160 first-half rushing yards is the most by any team in a half this season. The Steelers had a vision of a two-headed monster at running back when they signed Dowdle this offseason. That vision finally seems to be coming to fruition as the team enters the bye.
TE Darnell Washington
Darnell Washington has emerged as one of the Steelers’ best options in their passing attack. Washington only caught three passes today, but recorded 94 receiving yards with 64 yards after the catch. Washington needs only a few targets to make a big impact. Whether it’s in the red zone or on a wheel route, Washington is simply a matchup nightmare that defenses have to account for on every snap.
Defense
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham deserves a ton of credit for the way the Steelers defense has played over the course of the last month. Today, the Pittsburgh defense sacked Deshaun Watson eight times. Cleveland posted just 34 rushing yards as a team, and averaged 2.3 yards per attempt. The inside linebacker duo of Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson played very well today. Queen posted 1.5 sacks today, while Wilson made several quality run stops, one for a loss. Rookie safety Robert Spears-Jennings got things going for the defense by forcing a fumble on the game’s opening drive. It was a complete and total dominance by the Steelers defense today.
Stock Down
WR DK Metcalf
Metcalf is an incredibly frustrating player to watch. On his six targets, Metcalf brought in just one of them for four yards. Late in the third quarter, Metcalf was targeted downfield by Aaron Rodgers. The ball hit Metcalf right in the hands, but he bobbled the ball as Browns corner Denzel Ward ran by and grabbed it out of Metcalf’s clutches. As good as the Steelers moved the ball down the field today, it had absolutely nothing to do with the highest-paid player on their offense. Metcalf is well on his way to another underwhelming season in Pittsburgh.
Red zone offense
Speaking of frustrating, the Steelers’ red zone offense is puzzling to watch. In the first half, the Steelers had two drives go first and goal inside the ten. Of the six plays they ran inside the ten in those drives, the Steelers elected to pass the ball on five of those six plays. Despite how well the team was running the ball, they continued to pass and utilize fade routes in those situations. While it ended up being a comfortable win for the Steelers, their red zone offense will need to be more efficient in the second half if they want to clinch a second straight AFC North title.
Let us know what you think in the comments. Be sure to bookmark Behind the Steel Curtain for all the latest news, breakdowns, and more!
- Steelers sack Deshaun Watson eight times, defeat Browns 27-6
- Steelers TE Darnell Washington fined by NFL
- Adam Thielen explains issues between Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf
- Steelers EDGE Alex Highsmith drawing trade interest
- NFL predictions: Steelers will ride offense to win over Browns
