It felt off from the start, and the Steelers' miserable road record against the Browns prevailed last night. Despite being the better team on paper, Pittsburgh struggled to perform in key moments, and in the end, it cost them. All of this despite turning the ball over less, outgaining the Browns, and holding the ball more.
At the end of the day, this is just AFC North football. No game is ever easy, and the Browns are still a threat despite their numerous issues. Still in a good spot though, the Steelers need to recover from this loss and focus on beating the Bengals. Here are the winners and losers from this bitter loss to the Browns.
Steelers winners:
Jaylen Warren
Jaylen Warren has really come alive in recent weeks. Fully healthy, he once again looks like he better back between him and Najee Harris. He had more success on the ground this week and scored the first touchdown of the game for the Steelers. A big return to form and a player that needs to continue seeing more touches moving forward.
Calvin Austin
The only other winner on this list, and a well-deserved one. He should have had a touchdown early but an underthrown pass allowed the defender to catch up to him. He made up for it later though with a key score. He isn’t a perfect second option, but he is proving to be a great deep threat and a viable weapon on offense.
Steelers losers:
Steelers coaching
As stated above, when you outgain and hold the ball longer than an opposing team with fewer turnovers, you need to win. That didn’t happen this week, and the coaching was pretty shoddy. The offense has struggled to score despite moving the ball well. The defense gave too much this week. All around, the coaching looked like a mess this week en route to the loss.
Dan Moore
I’ve sung the well-deserved praises of Dan Moore this year, as he has looked like a new tackle this year. However, his struggles against Myles Garrett continued. That isn’t a knock against him, Garrett is an elite pass rusher, but I was hoping for a better performance from Moore. I just hope this doesn’t get into his head for the remainder of the season.
T.J. Watt
To be fair, T.J. Watt wasn’t an objectively bad player. He never is. That said, in a game that featured a lot of talk between him and Garrett, one showed up and the other was quiet. Watt commands a lot of attention, but he failed to counter it as well as his counterpart. A forgettable game for the stud edge rusher.