Pittsburgh Steelers: 5 things we learned in win over Browns

Special Teams – Highs and Lows

The Steelers can’t seem to make up their mind on what kind of team they want to be on special teams, great or terrible. It’s not just week to week, but within games they go back and forth. This game, Jordan Berry continued his strong punting streak, putting the ball just where he wanted it. And then there was that mess on the safety kick where the Steelers return unit was not aware that, despite the punter being on the field, it’s not a punt and you must catch or recover the ball.

All season, the Steelers have rapidly shifted from missed kicks and blown coverages to blocking kicks and good returns. Clearly, the Steelers are capable of making strong special teams plays. They just have to do it. It hasn’t directly cost them a game but Danny Smith needs to see that it could happen and to see the ability of this unit to avoid that if they play right, and make sure they more consistently lean in the latter direction.