Biggest takeaways from Steelers win vs Browns bring hope and despair
By Tommy Jaggi
The Pittsburgh Steelers just had an encouraging win over the Browns in Week 18. Here are the biggest takeaways from their season finale.
If only the New York Jets would have pulled it off against the Miami Dolphins, we wouldn’t have been able to draw it up any better. To get into the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Steelers needed to take care of business on their end against the Cleveland Brown while hoping for losses from the Patriots and the Dolphins this week.
Sadly, the 9-6 Miami win that concluded with a last-minute field goal for the Dolphins crushed the dreams of Steelers fans this year. Even if Pittsburgh was able to sneak into the playoffs, it’s unlikely that they would have made it far, but entering the tournament is always the goal.
Pittsburgh defeated Cleveland with a final score of 28-14, but the 2022 season is now officially over. There were both encouraging and disheartening takeaways from the Steelers win against the Browns.
Steelers pass rush was outstanding
Though Browns quarterback, Deshaun Watson, was able to make some big plays early on in this contest, an elite Pittsburgh pass rush really helped keep him in check. T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith converged on the QB multiple times in this game and routinely forced Watson to take off and run with the football.
Though Watson did gain 44 yards on 7 rushes, the Steelers were able to sack him a whopping 7 times, knocking him to the ground 10 times in this game, per ESPN stats. This defense was very encouraging in their exit performance for the 2022 season, and with Watt healthy and ready to lead this team, they should be a strong unit next season.