The Steelers’ hot start to the 2025 season continued on Sunday with a dominant 23-9 win over the rival Cleveland Browns. As always, there are plenty of takeaways to be had:
1. Once again, the Steelers out-gameplanned their opponent
Heading into Sunday’s game, the Steelers were coming off a bye week and back at home. The Browns were coming off a trip overseas and preparing to play a rookie quarterback in his second career start.
You’d expect one team to look far more prepared and comfortable than the other, and that was exactly what happened.
Against the Browns,
the Steelers returned to the heavy usage of their Darnell-Washington-and-extra-O-lineman jumbo package they saw so much success with against the Vikings in Week 4. The Browns were no doubt expecting it — it was the standout feature of Pittsburgh’s last game — but Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith threw in a wrinkle on the first offensive play of the game, sneaking Washington downfield on a play-action fake for a 36-yard passing play off the team’s most run-first look.
Plus, Pittsburgh limited Myles Garrett to just two total tackles. Despite what some Steeler fans might argue, he’s a bona fide game wrecker — shutting him down is absolutely an achievement that requires plenty of preparation.
The Steelers also looked prepared on defense. In BTSC’s game preview, I wrote that Cleveland rookie running back Quinshon Judkins looked like the real deal in an otherwise underwhelming Browns offense.
So what did the Steelers do? They packed the line of scrimmage, limiting Judkins to 36 yards on 12 carries. Between the run game inefficiency and Pittsburgh’s early lead, the Browns had to make rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel pass the ball a whopping 52 times. That was never going to be a winning strategy for Cleveland. But it sure was for Pittsburgh.
2. The Steelers have an identity on offense — and it’s really weird
The Pittsburgh offense is bizarre in so many ways, but I’m not going to criticize it too much until it stops working.
On its most basic level, the Arthur Smith offense works when it can establish the run game. And for the last two weeks, Pittsburgh has managed to do exactly that.
The run blocking has taken a step forward (both Broderick Jones and Mason McCormick had some key plays in that area against Cleveland), and Jaylen Warren continues to prove that he’s a RB1-caliber player (his contact balance might be among the best in the league). Kenneth Gainwell and Kaleb Johnson have also each looked like capable runners in recent weeks.
But where the offense both struggles and succeeds is how it doesn’t utilize a traditional “WR2.” The Steelers’ passing offense has been up and down all season, but when Calvin Austin III was declared out ahead of the Browns game and the Steelers were down to names such as Roman Wilson and Scotty Miller on the depth chart, it didn’t affect their strategy much.
Instead, Arthur Smith has just been getting weirder in recent weeks. Jonnu Smith lined up at fullback. Spencer Anderson lined up at fullback. D.K. Metcalf even played fullback for a snap — why not?
The Steelers’ top-played tight end through two weeks has not been either of the team’s top-paid at the position. And that featured player, run-blocking specialist Darnell Washington, was the team’s second-leading receiver on the afternoon. And who of that tight end group caught a touchdown on Sunday? Fourth-stringer (and part-time fullback — go figure) Connor Heyward.
While Aaron Rodgers’ late downfield touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf shouldn’t be discounted, the Steelers still continued to struggle passing the ball deep. Aaron Rodgers’ earlier underthrow to Metcalf highlighted that it hasn’t just been the fault of his teammates and the scheme this year. Still, the veteran quarterback’s time to throw this year has been the shortest in the league for a reason: his pass protection hasn’t been stellar on longer-developing plays.
As a result, the Steelers’ passing offense continues to be confined to the quick game. But Rodgers has looked incredibly sharp in short- and mid-range as of late, fitting passes into tight windows and making some vintage plays on the move.
Throw the occasional tight end jet sweep and a heavy dose of Spencer Anderson, and you have an idea of what this wild and wacky Steelers offense looks like.
But as long as the run game is clicking, there’s just enough variety that Pittsburgh can continue to find success with their unorthodox philosophy. Arthur Smith deserves some credit for adding in wrinkles such as pony backfields and pre-snap motions to keep things interesting for defenses.
And if you want to gain some confidence that the newfound ground game success is, in fact, sustainable, keep in mind that the Steelers had 100 yards rushing (with lead back Jaylen Warren averaging 4.7 yards per carry) and 235 passing yards with no turnovers against an elite Cleveland defense. The Browns might be a paltry 1-4 now, but they entered the game as the league’s best run defense, allowing just 2.98 yards per carry. They were also a top-five defense against the pass.
Beating a bottom-of-the-division Browns team isn’t the most quality of wins, but for the Pittsburgh offense it’s definitely a meaningful one.
3. The Steelers have a three-headed monster at outside linebacker, and they’re finally using it correctly
Mike Tomlin announced Nick Herbig as a starter alongside T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith ahead of Sunday’s game. It was a gesture of respect following Herbig’s hot start to the season in replacement of the then-injured Highsmith, but it also showed that the team was changing its philosophy regarding the snap count distribution between all three.
Per PFF, Watt, Highsmith, and Herbig almost saw identical playing time against the Browns, playing 49, 47, and 50 defensive snaps respectively.
In last week’s Steelers Read & React, I noted how the Steelers still tended to play Watt and Highsmith around twice as much as Herbig when all three were healthy, and how that needed to change. The Steelers finally made that adjustment, giving all three significant snaps and in turn keeping the rotation more fresh.
The outside linebacker room responded with their best game of the season. Watt had five total tackles, half a sack, and two pass deflections. Highsmith was a menace against the run, adding another three total tackles and a half sack. And Herbig took the team lead in sacks by recording another two against the Browns, bringing his season total to 4.5.
All three were continually in the backfield disrupting plays even when they didn’t record a tackle, and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin broke out the team’s much-hyped three-outside linebacker package on a few third-and-longs.
An underrated storyline headed into Sunday’s game was that the Steelers’ starting defense was fully healthy for the first time in 2025. That was especially noticeable in the outside linebacker room. Pittsburgh won’t be facing struggling offensive lines like Cleveland’s all year, but the team’s usage of Watt, Highsmith, and Herbig pointed to a bright future if they can remain healthy.
4. Patrick Queen is playing at a Pro Bowl level
It’s been an underrated storyline for a bit that linebacker Patrick Queen has started to put together an excellent 2025 on tape.
Queen, a big-money free agent signing last offseason — from the division rival Ravens, no less — didn’t get off on the right foot with fans following a rough start to his Steelers career. He slowly improved over the 2024 season, but once again became a popular scapegoat amid the defense’s struggles to open 2025.
To be clear, Queen wasn’t without fault in those defensive miscues. While I argued that Payton Wilson was more often to blame, the duo of him and Queen had their fair share of miscommunications and coverage flubs to start the season. The Jets and Seahawks games had some rough moments when it came to defending the middle of the field.
But Queen had some great plays stopping the run against Seattle, and he’s just continued to build on that performance. He was flying around the field against the Patriots and Vikings, playing with not just his signature athleticism, but a contagious physicality near the line of scrimmage.
On Sunday’s broadcast against the Browns, Ian Eagle said Mike Tomlin told CBS that Queen’s Week 4 performance had been the best of his career with the Steelers.
And Queen’s Week 6 performance wasn’t far behind. He finished second on the team in total tackles with nine, and even added a pass defensed, showing off some coverage chops against the Browns’ tight end-centric passing game. His highlight of the day came on a screen pass that Queen read from a deep zone and sprinted downfield to minimize with a big collision.
Plus, while it won’t show on the stat sheet, Queen was handing out massive hits all game. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Pittsburgh’s physicality over the middle of the field was a major factor in the number of drops by Cleveland wide receivers on Sunday.
If it wasn’t clear already, Queen’s last two games for the Steelers have been nothing short of excellent. He’s established himself as one of the many stars on the 2025 Pittsburgh defense.
5. Odds and ends
- Rookie wide receiver Ke’Shawn Williams was one of my favorites in the Steelers’ 2025 undrafted free agent class, and he finally got a chance to play in the regular season after being signed to the 53-man roster following Calvin Austin III’s injury. Filling in on punt and kick returns against the Browns, Williams showed off the impressive stop-start ability he had in the preseason. Unfortunately, a 57-yard punt return was erased by an iffy-at-best block in the back penalty, but Williams looked like he belonged on an NFL field regardless. He looks like a great insurance policy for Austin on special teams, and he could even take over in the future so the former can focus on offense.
- D.K. Metcalf still isn’t an elite contested catch wide receiver, but he continues to make some tough grabs to supplement his run-after-catch-heavy style of play with the Steelers. He had new Browns cornerback Tyson Campbell in a blender most of Sunday and finished the game five yards short of 100.
- Rookie Derrick Harmon finished the game with one sack, four tackles, and plenty of disruption. His development continues to be the highlight of the Steelers’ rookie class.
- Joey Porter Jr. has been a somewhat forgotten player on defense given all the narratives surrounding Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay, but his return to the starting lineup on Sunday showed just how much he can add to the team. Porter finished the day with two pass deflections and was tight in coverage all game.
- Speaking of Ramsey, his unexpected return from a hamstring injury that was reported as being more serious was nothing short of impressive. Then, he turned around and recorded more sacks than T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett combined on Sunday. His blitzing ability is something the Steelers should continue to tap into this season.
- James Pierre recorded one tackle for loss and one pass deflection on Sunday. Do you want him starting? No. But he continues to make plays when called upon as a backup. He’s been such an underrated depth piece this year.
- The Ravens have dropped to 1-5, and the Bengals and Browns (duh) also dropped their Week 6 games. I’m saying this as someone who still doesn’t want to count out the Ravens completely with Lamar Jackson due to return soon, but it’s become impossible to see any team but the Steelers as the AFC North favorite at this point.
- The Steelers really should have won by more when you consider the countless sloppy penalties and missed interceptions on Sunday. When you win big and still have plenty of room for improvement, that’s a sign for optimism.
- The Chris Boswell slip looked so much worse on TV than it turned out to be. Still, the bad field cost the Steelers a three-score lead and could’ve easily injured the best kicker in the NFL. For how much money is on the field on any given snap, you’d hope a little more care could be put into the playing conditions.
- The energy the Steelers defense played with against the Browns was electric. It seems like it might finally be coming together for one of the league’s most talented defenses.
- This is one of the more positive takeaways articles I’ve typed up over the years. It’s hard to nitpick too much following the rare stress-free Steelers win. Would I put this roster in the “Super Bowl contending” tier of NFL teams? No. But at this point, there’s little doubt that Pittsburgh is in fact a playoff team. Given how much the Steelers have pulled ahead of the AFC North in recent weeks, I can’t blame a little optimism.
Pittsburgh has a short week of rest ahead of its next game: Thursday Night Football in Cincinnati on Oct. 16.
What are your takeaways from Steelers vs. Browns? Agree/disagree with the ones above? Join the Behind the Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!
