Steelers vs Browns: Pittsburgh keeps marching toward a playoff berth
By Eric Hassel
The Steelers former second-round wide receiver spearheads the aerial campaign against the Browns
According to the official website of the NFL, the Steelers offense amassed 323 total yards, of which James Washington, the former second-round pick in 2018, accounted for 111 of those yards on 4 catches. Washington also caught a TD pass from Devlin Hodges, who was making his second start of the season. If you didn’t see Washington’s TD catch, it was really spectacular: ‘Duck’ to Washington for the TD
Putting aside the fact that it was a TD generated in the passing game, something that the offense has not been able to do with any consistency, it was a fairly deep throw by Hodges, who put just enough on the ball for Washington to make on a play on it.
The play by Hodges, who finished the day 14 for 21 with 212 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT, was a catalyst for the Steelers passing game. Despite still being ranked 28th in overall offense, averaging 291.3 yards per game, the passing game is currently ranked 29th. That’s terrible, but it looks like ‘Duck’ Hodges is not afraid to throw the ball deep. The Steelers will need ‘Duck’ to continue to be intrepid in his approach to the passing game if we are to stay in the playoff conversation.
Another catalyst to the victory against the Browns was the ground game. The Steelers rushed for 124 yards. It was a total team effort as five players, including Hodges, notched at least one carry in the game. Leading the way in the rushing game was Benny Snell Jr.
The rookie RB carried the ball 16 times for 63 yards and added a rushing TD, which was not only the lone rushing TD of the game, but it was the first rushing TD of his career. As I have stated ad nauseam, the key for the Steelers to secure victory in any is the ability to run the ball.
If we can run the ball, we can control the line of scrimmage, convert third-downs and sustain drives, particularly when we are trying to salt away a game. The Steelers finished the game with more total yards, more passing yards and more rushing yards than the Browns, thus we won the game.
Let’s see how the Steelers fared on the defensive side of the ball.