The Pittsburgh Steelers had a score to settle with the Cleveland Browns this week. After losing 27-24 on a last-second field goal back in Week 4, their rubber match in Week 8 had serious playoff and AFC North implications. With both teams entering the game 5-2, the winner would be in sole possession of first place in the division.
Consider that score settled. The Steelers utterly dominated the Browns 27-6, doing it on the back of what has become one of the league's best rushing attacks.
Cleveland was outmatched in just about every way, and even with some miscues from Pittsburgh, it never really felt like they had a chance from the start. Here are the biggest initial takeaways from the Steelers' most complete win of the season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers imposed their will on the Browns in Week 8
Have a (birth)day Jaylen Warren
There isn't much more to say about the season Jaylen Warren is putting together, but he deserves his flowers for what he did against the Browns. 17 carries, 143 yards, and multiple explosive runs to get Pittsburgh out of bad situations. Doing it all on his 28th birthday is just icing on the, well...birthday cake.
He didn't have his usual five+ targets in the passing game, but he didn't need them to take over the game. Rico Dowdle had a few nice runs as well, but this backfield still belongs to Warren.
Steelers may need to move on from DK Metcalf ASAP
There is no sugarcoating it at this point: DK Metcalf is one of the worst starting wide receivers in the NFL. Not just among No. 1 receivers, but among receivers in general. He was targeted a team-high six times in this game, but managed just one catch for four yards.
In fact, his most notable play of the day was one he made for the Browns. Aaron Rodgers hit him on a wide-open pass down the field, but he couldn't make the catch. Browns corner Denzel Ward managed to get back into the play just in time to corral the dropped pass, intercepting it on what should have been a big play for the offense.
It may not be able to happen at the trade deadline, but it's time for the Steelers to move on from Metcalf as soon as possible.
Steelers run defense shines once again
Running the ball against the Steelers in recent weeks has felt like the football version of pulling teeth. After allowing just 34 yards against the Browns this week, opponents have managed just 220 rushing yards over the last four games, all of which were Pittsburgh victories.
With how dominant the run defense has been recently, it has allowed the pass rush to hunt opposing quarterbacks with great success. Speaking of...
Steelers pass rush took advantage of a one-dimensional Browns offense
The Steelers sacked DeShaun Watson a whopping eight times on Sunday, bringing their total over their four-game winning streak to 16. That is the most in the league over that stretch as of writing. While the run defense deserves credit for making opposing offenses one-dimensional, the Steelers' pass rushers have turned it on after a bit of a slow start.
If they can keep this up, this defense may be able to survive some of their issues in coverage.
Aaron Rodgers red zone shenanigans continue
Rodgers wasn't good in this game for the most part, even if his only turnover was Metcalf's fault. He was just 13 of 25 for 172 yards, and the only real attempts to push the ball came on a few schemed-up targets to Darnell Washington and two wide-open looks down the middle.
His issues throwing the ball beyond 10 yards are what they are at this point, but the area that was most frustrating was his red zone efforts. On two separate occasions in the first half, Pittsburgh had the ball inside the 10-yard line, goal-to-go, and had to settle for a field goal. The play calls on those drives? Five passes and just one run.
Blame Rodgers or head coach Mike McCarthy (I think it's mostly a QB issue personally), but whoever is to blame better reverse those tendencies fast.
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