It dawned on us last night that the Browns’ last two playoff games have come against the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, this will be Cleveland’s third straight post-season contest against our neighbors just a couple of hours away.
After beating New England in 1994, Bill Belichick’s squad was bounced by the Steelers for the third time that season, 29-9 at Three Rivers Stadium. The most memorable thing to us in that game was QB Vinny Testaverde getting called for intentional grounding…on a fourth down play.
In 2002, the brown and orange’s most recent playoff appearance, Cleveland was again beaten twice in the regular season, and then lost at Heinz Field, 36-33, in a contest where the Browns had a 24-7 lead early in the third quarter.
This year, the two AFC North rivals split their two meetings, and have to play in consecutive weeks. That same scenario occurred in 1988, when the Browns had to beat the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) 28-23 at old Municipal Stadium with Don Strock at quarterback to get in the playoffs.
The following week, Mike Pagel was at the helm on the lakefront, as Bernie Kosar was hurt, but the Browns dropped a 24-23 decision. That was also Marty Schottenheimer’s last game as head coach of the team.
While some may be disappointed in Sunday’s 24-22 victory which put Kevin Stefanski’s squad into the playoffs because the Steelers sat several regulars, including QB Ben Roethlisberger, it still was a win, and it was the 11th of the season.
We understand the special feeling we have in northeast Ohio for Pittsburgh backup QB Mason Rudolph, but he did play very well Sunday (22 of 39, 315 yards and two touchdowns), and the starting wide receivers for Mike Tomlin played as well.
Don’t forget. The AFC was stacked this season with eight teams getting 10 or more wins, including Miami, which didn’t make the post-season tournament.
The Browns didn’t back their way in to the playoffs. They won 11 games, the franchise’s most since that 1994 squad.
And while the Steelers are the Steelers, which means they are always tough, and they have a great head coach and a future Hall of Fame quarterback, remember they started 11-0, and finished 12-4, so they haven’t played their best football since Thanksgiving Day.
The biggest question for the Browns is since the game will be played Sunday night, what will be Denzel Ward’s status? Ward is on the COVID-19 list, and depending on several things in the protocol, could be ready to go for the playoff game.
His presence would be much needed since DE Olivier Vernon, who played tremendously in the second half of the season, tore his Achilles tendon in the last game of the season, and obviously will not play.
That means most of the burden to get to Roethlisberger falls on Myles Garrett, who no doubt will be double and triple teamed by the black and gold.
We expect next Sunday’s game to really have no resemblance to the season finale. We are sure both coaches will have some wrinkles to use. Stefanski was pretty vanilla with his offense on Sunday, so could we see Jarvis Landry limbering up his throwing arm again?
And on the Pittsburgh side, can Roethlisberger make the downfield throws Rudolph made? Remember, the Steelers had three completions over 40 yards downfield.
It’s nice to talk about playoff football once again, and we have a hunch, this isn’t a one year deal for the Browns. The organization is set up for sustained success, and the defense is far from what anyone would call a finished product.
It’s a fun time to be a Browns fan. Finally.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 