Steelers finished it: Browns bravado no substitute for preparation
Coach Freddie Kitchens wore a tee shirt claiming that “The Steelers Started It” but today a clearly inferior Pittsburgh team soundly beat the much more talented Cleveland Browns.
The Pittsburgh Steelers got their revenge on the scoreboard today, and as a consequence, the Cleveland Browns will have to run the table in order to have any chance of sneaking into the playoffs at 9-7.
The Steelers were able to do it without having to use second-year quarterback Mason Rudolph, whose breakdown tangibly hurt the Steelers by getting former Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncy suspended for one game, after his appeal of the original three-game banishment.
It doesn’t much matter whether or not Rudolph got suspended. Forget about penalties and suspensions for a minute. Coach Mike Tomlin did not want to have a quarterback who is so easily distracted and so he went with an undrafted rookie over a much bigger and stronger quarterback drafted in round three two years ago.
Hence undrafted rookie Devlin”Duck” Hodges was given the assignment not necessarily based on his potential, but because of his ability to lead and function under pressure. In other words, he was more disciplined than Mason Rudolph.
The Steelers lost supposed superstars Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell over the off-season, and star receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was out due to a knee injury suffered against the Browns today.
How could an undrafted rookie throw for more yards than the Browns star first-string quarterback, Baker Mayfield? But he did.
How could second-string Benny Snell, Jr. outgain Nick Chubb? But he did.
How could James Washington have more receiving yards than Odell Beckham, Jr. and Jarvis Landry combined? But he did.
The Steeler players appear to believe that much credit for their victory goes to coach Mike Tomlin and his staff, according to quotes obtained by Dianna Russini of ESPN.
"“Players on defense pointed to the adjustments made at half. They said he ‘straight up went high school football coach and drew up how they were going to defend Cleveland’ since the Browns were showing a new look.”"
To be fair, should not Dawg Pound Daily equally cite the great halftime adjustments made by Freddie Kitchens and his staff? Well, if we ever hear of any, we will be sure to publicize them. We cannot find any so far.
Rather, it appears that in this case, the coaching staff of the Steelers was able to propel their team forward against a more talented Cleveland opponent.
One advantage that the Steelers did have was that they were much stronger up front. Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree, Cam Sutton, Bud Dupree, and Javon Hargrave pressured Mayfield all day long, combining on five sacks.
This dramatic flop is just going to increase the pressure on John Dorsey to fire his coach. This probably would best be done at the end of the season, however.
It’s bad enough to ask a new coach to walk into a position vacated by a one-and-done guy. If coach Kitchens can not even make it through a full season it will decrease the appeal of the Cleveland head coaching position.
Next. Instant reactions from tough Week 13 loss. dark
Nothing great will happen if the Browns relieve Kitchens of his position in mid-season. They’re still not going to go to the playoffs, and they will still have to conduct a coaching search this offseason. For that reason, this analyst makes the guess that Kitchens will indeed keep his job to the end of the season.