Browns Vs. Steelers: Where We We Right; Wrong

The Cleveland Browns versus the Pittsburgh Steelers almost was one for the ages for Browns fans. The Browns looked like the Browns of old in the first half and looked like an up and coming team for most of the second half. It wasn’t enough as the team fell at the last second to a field goal. No moral victories but a game on the road, that starts out that poorly, to lose at the last second gives the team something to build on.

In the ramp up to the game we looked at different match-ups between units on the teams. We gave advantages to one side or the other, ending up with 4 on each side. We also gave a prediction, with game summary, of what we expected to happen. Time to own up and find out where we were right and where we were wrong in yesterday’s Browns Vs. Steelers match-up:

Right

Match-up Previews: We graded both teams with 4 advantages, meaning we expected a close game. We were right.

Pass Catchers Vs. Defenders: In the second half the Browns all but shutdown the Steelers pass game. The Steelers did a good job most of the game shutting down the Browns receivers with only Andrew Hawkins having more than 2 catches (8). We were right X 2.

Running Game Vs. Defense: The Browns, especially in the second half were really able to get their running game going. Terrance West had 100 yard rushing, a 6.3 YPC average, while fellow rookie Isaiah Crowell had 2 touchdowns and a 6.4 YPC average. Ben Tate, before injured, also had a great YPC at 6.8. We were right.

QBs Vs. Defense: Ben Roethlisberger had a big game and made the Browns look silly, almost totally in the first half. And when it mattered he made just enough plays to win his team the ball game. Brian Hoyer played good in the second half but the Steelers defense still limited him to 7.4 average on pass plays and a 56.3 QB rating. We were right X 2.

Prediction with Game Summary: We predicted Travis Benjamin for a touchdown and a very close game. We were right.

Wrong

O-Line Vs. Front 7s: The Browns offensive line did a good job of holding off the front 7 of the Steelers. The Steelers got 3 sacks but the line held up better than expected. The Browns Front 7, while it did get 4 sacks, didn’t do enough to keep Big Ben or Le’Veon Bell from having great games. They flashed but were not able to complete a lot of plays in the backfield. We were wrong X 2.

Running Game Vs. Defense: We thought the Browns would be able to hold the Steelers running game in check. Instead, even though they were in position to make many plays, the defense whiffed on a ton of tackles yesterday. They scheme put them in the right positions but they could finish the plays. We were wrong.

Prediction with Game Summary: We predicted a low scoring game with some back and forth between the two teams. Instead we got the tale of two halves in a higher scoring game than we predicted. In our game summary we predicted that Jordan Cameron would have a few big catches, including a touchdown. He was shutdown, partially by his shoulder injury, most of the game. We also predicted Heath Miller to have a touchdown which failed to produce as well. Oh yeah we also predicted a Browns victory. WE WERE WRONG!

Conclusion

So there you have it. We take credit for our mistakes and take the blame when we were wrong. We had a little of both but the most important thing was that we were wrong in our prediction of who would win the game.

What went differently than you expected yesterday in Browns Vs. Steelers?