Steelers Scouting Report: Week Three at Cleveland Browns
Steel City Underground’s “Steelers Scouting Report” is a preview of each opponent Pittsburgh will face throughout the 2022-23 NFL regular season on a weekly basis, with analysis, injury news, and potential key matchups.
After an uninspired and deflated performance against the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers hit the road to face the Jacoby Brissett-led Cleveland Browns. The Browns are looking for a bounce-back win themselves after throwing away a 31-17 lead to the New York Jets with 1:55 left to play, bested by an onside kick and Joe Flacco in 2022 of all people.
Offense
Despite the embarrassing loss to the Jets, the Browns looked effective on offense for the majority of the game. Coming out of Week One, I had my eye on Jacoby Brissett because he was painfully inaccurate against the Carolina Panthers – 18/34, 147 yards, 1 TD; missing wide open receivers and just flat out missing almost every pass that was not underneath or a checkdown.
In Week Two against the Jets, Brissett looked much more comfortable in the offense. He was accurate, kept his eyes down field when faced with a little pressure and remembered to use his legs when things truly break down.
Brissett against the Jets posted 22/27, 229 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, as well as 6 carries for 43 yards. Brissett was not a world-beater on Sunday, but as evident with Mac Jones‘ performance on Sunday – you don’t necessarily need a world-beater behind center to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Cleveland Browns receiving corps is still finding its footing with different receivers being highlighted between Week One and Week Two. Amari Cooper in Week One and Donovan Peoples-Jones in Week Two.
The Steelers secondary gave up some big plays last Sunday as it appears that the cornerback play in Pittsburgh is a little hit and miss in the first two weeks of the season.
The Cleveland Browns offense is clearly a run-first operation, but don’t underestimate Brissett and his receivers’ ability to matriculate the ball downfield through the air just enough to keep the Steelers defense honest and open up the run game.
Unfortunately, for the Steelers, this Thursday against the Browns, they will face the better version of the backfield they played on Sunday against the New England Patriots.
Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are still perhaps the most dominant 1-2 punch in football coming out of the offensive backfield. Chubb is right up there as one of the strongest runners in the league with Derrick Henry and Jonathan Taylor. Then you have Kareem Hunt, who, despite requesting a trade this offseason – seems to be the perfect Robin to Chubb’s Batman.
T.J. Watt‘s presence was sorely missed in the pass rush last week. I can imagine his absence being highlighted in the run defense this Thursday against the Browns with Chubb and Hunt already playing in mid-season form.
Defense
Just like the New England Patriots last week, the Cleveland defense is coming into the game with a lot of familiar faces for Steelers fans.
Up front you have Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney (despite both not practicing on Tuesday – see injury report below) and in the secondary you have your usual suspects to watch out for in Denzel Ward, Greg Newsome, and Ronnie Harrison Jr.
One player on the Browns defense that I will be sure to keep an eye on throughout the game is dynamic linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. The second-year linebacker out of Notre Dame shows flashes of elite speed and freak athleticism that may remind Steelers fans of Ryan Shazier.
Owusu-Koramoah is already proving to be one of the young leaders on this Browns defense and with a breakout season potentially being more of a “when” than an “if” for JOK, I’d definitely keep my eye out for #28 on Thursday night.
The Browns defense has been less than the sum of its parts so far this season. They almost lost to a Baker Mayfield-led Panthers team on a day where Baker had 5 turnovers (4 fumbles, 1 INT), and then actually lost to Joe Flacco and the Jets when they were up 31-17 with 1:55 left to play; which was a 99% win probability, by the way.
So, in some sense, the Browns are still the Browns.
It will be fascinating to watch on Thursday if the Steelers decide to attack a struggling Browns secondary or an injured defensive line who has still held opposing lead running backs to 3.3 yards per carry.
Injuries
The Browns are pretty beat up coming into the short week matchup against the Steelers. DE Jadeveon Clowney (ankle), DE Chase Winovich (hamstring), and TE Jesse James (bicep) have all already been ruled out for Thursday’s game.
DE Myles Garrett (neck) and G Joel Bitonio (bicep) also did not practice on Tuesday, with head coach Kevin Stefanski commenting about their availability, “We’ll see…I mentioned it before, these Thursday night games, sometimes it’s hard for guys to make it. We will take every hour as they come.”
TE Harrison Bryant (thigh, thumb), T Jack Conklin (knee), and T Chris Hubbard (illness) were all limited on Tuesday as well.
The Pittsburgh Steelers face-off against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football at 8:15 EDT, streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
