Flavells Five Thoughts Steelers Are Stil

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Flavells Five Thoughts Steelers Are Stil

Entering the game as underdogs, the Pittsburgh Steelers were tasked with getting a win in FirstEnergy Stadium. Ben Roethlisberger, winner of 24 games against Cleveland entering Sunday, was looking to come out of the bye firing.While the team's performance certainly didn't blow anyone away, the Steelers pulled off a 15-10 win and moved to 4-3 and are above .500 for the first time since their opening game of the season in Buffalo.With the win, Mike Tomlin goes to 11-4 all-time coming off of a bye week. The extra preparation has certainly been an advantage for him over the years. However, he is not to be absolved of blame despite the win.So much happened in this game. We've got to discu s. So without further ado, let's get started, huh?The Fake Field Goal...Let's get this one out of the way early. This play ended up Prince Fielder Jersey dictating a lot more over the course of the game than it should've.On fourth down and short, the Steelers were poised to put three on the board and make the game closer. Instead, kicker Chris Boswell rolled out to his right and tried to find an open receiver?!?The play ended as poorly as it could have. There was quite literally no one open, so Boswell smartly floated a pa s over everyone's head and out of danger. However, a late, high hit by Jordan Elliott knocked Boswell out of the game with a concu sion.If the play works, Tomlin looks like a genius and deservedly gets all the praise in the world. If it doesn't - and it Willie Calhoun Jersey most certainly didn't - then Tomlin faces a world of criticism for such a play call.If you want to run an offensive play, the chances of your kicker throwing a good pa s and finding an open receiver on a trick play that close to the end zone are fairly low. Why don't you just leave the offense on the field at that rate?The field positioning and timing within the game made sense for such a call but so much had to go right for that to work.Boswell tried to be a hero for his team and paid the price for it. He should've thrown the ball away sooner instead of holding out hope and putting himself at risk to take such a hit.Tomlin tried to be edgy and make a call that he typically isn't akin to making. Pre sley Harvin III was pre sed into kickoff duties for the remainder of the game and the Steelers did not opt to kick at all after the Boswell injury.Najee Harris Continues to ShineRegardle s of all the crazy that happened with that play, the Steelers still came out victorious. Najee Harris was a big part of that yet again.Harris ran for 91 yards on 26 carries. He didn't have an efficient day but he posted nearly 100 yards nonethele s. Add to that his 29 receiving yards and Harris posted 120 all-purpose yards Sunday afternoon.Harris scored the Steelers' first touchdown of the afternoon in the third quarter. Due to Boswell's injury, they had to go for two. Ben Roethlisberger originally snuck it in, but the play was called back for holding. They did not make the ensuing attempt after the penalty.It's easy to see the 3.5 yards/carry average and chalk this one up as a quantity over quality game. That's fair. But Harris also just looked strong, finding holes where there weren't many and churning extra yards out with ease.At the very least, Harris' 26 totes ran time off the clock that was inevitably valuable in the eventual win.As Far As the Other Rushing AttackThe Browns are one of the hardest teams to defend rushing the ball in all of the league. Nick Chubb returned from injury and was not all that effective, getting 61 yards on 16 carries, his longest being 21 yards.His usual battery mate in the backfield, Kareem Hunt, mi sed the game Sunday with injury. D'Ernest Johnson stepped in to fill the Hunt role in this one.Johnson only carried the ball four times but had 22 yards and scored the Browns' lone touchdown. Last week, Johnson comparatively had 146 yards and a score against the Broncos on Thursday night a week prior.Pittsburgh was up to the task. They've seen this opponent a ton before. They had been sitting on Brett Martin Jersey the embarra sing playoff lo s from last January for nearly 10 months without any chance at retribution. They got some in the form of stopping the run.Cleveland has proven that when their run game is working, they're tough to Shelby Miller Jersey beat. If they can't get the ground game going and they've got to pa s, oftentimes, that's when they're at their most vulnerable.Baker Mayfield, Jarvis Landry, and Odell Beckham Jr. lined up on the field together for the first time in 371 days on Sunday afternoon. That "potent" wide receiver duo ama sed six whole catches for 71 yards. Ironically, OBJ had one singular reception for a tremendous six yards.Scroll to ContinueAnytime you can keep the Browns under 100 yards rushing on the game and shut down that duo, your chances of winning go up exponentially. The Steelers were solid in doing so Sunday.Freiermuth, Gentry More Than AdequateAre we sure Eric Ebron had to be brought back to Pittsburgh? Is there any way he could have accidentally been left behind in Cleveland?Pat Friermuth showed Sunday why he's ready to be a top tight end in the NFL.Pittsburgh's second-round pick this offseason has done nothing but make catch after catch and improve upon his blocking. He made the game-winning touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter on a grown man play. He bobbled the ball initially but hauled it in and just barely got the two feet in bounds. It was a thing of beauty.Friermuth now has 22 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns this season. That's a lot of two's for the second-round pick. The one thing he no longer has is a "2" next time his name is on the depth chart.Eric Ebron was supposedly injured right as he began to complain about his playing time. Friermuth has wrestled the starting spot away from Ebron with ease. Hopefully, the next time Ebron plays football, he won't be donning the black and gold. He's a locker room cancer as Drew Smyly Jersey proven at all of his recent stops. The Steelers want to get younger and better at the position.If Ebron is still around in the next few weeks after the deadline, he may fall to number three on the depth chart.Zach Gentry is making a case for more playing time. Roethlisberger targeted him five times with Gentry pulling in three of them for 39 yards. He's been an awesome blocker in his limited opportunity so far and now he's beginning to develop some offensive prowe s.The young guys deserve the playing time. Ebron can continue dropping down the depth chart. It's certainly not the only thing he's dropped this year.AFC is Wide OpenJust a short month ago, things looked very gloom-and-doom for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They sat at 1-3 early in the season and on the precipice of another disappointing season. While optimism hasn't quite been restored, the Steelers sit at 4-3 with a three-game winning streak and two very winnable NFC games on tap.They'll play Justin Fields and the Bears at Heinz Field on Monday Night Football next week. Following that, the haple s Jared Goff-led Detroit Lions come to town.
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