'These Are Must-Win Games:' Steelers And Browns Prepare For AFC North Showdown
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
CLEVELAND (KDKA) - It's a rivalry, an AFC North showdown, and a chance for the Steelers to pull ahead of the Cleveland Browns this Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.
It's also the first meeting of the two teams since the Browns knocked the Steelers out of the AFC Wild Card game last year.
"The only thing they're looking at in that locker room is that week," NFL On CBS analyst James Lofton said. "They go in and they're thinking these are must-win games, both sides think that. If you don't look at it that way, as a player or as a coach, then you're not looking at it correctly. You don't want to admit that it's a must-win game and then lose because then what do you do after that? Well, you must win the next one and the next one after that."
While the Browns might be without quarterback Baker Mayfield on Sunday, Lofton was focused on the Steelers' offense and how they've performed so far this season, specifically rookie running back Najee Harris.
"When I watch them play, it's like they're playing small-ball, they're just trying to hit singles, get guys on base, and move down the field that way," he said. "You don't see the chunk plays, we saw them in one game and that was against Denver. That's really the only game I've seen that. It's a changing of the guard, we don't know the next guard coming in, because normally that player is in waiting. Can they win? Mike Tomlin has always won, but Cleveland looks like, even with a backup quarterback, they can get the job done."
Lofton also said that two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has had to change his game as a 39-year-old quarterback and that's changed the outlook of Pittsburgh's offense.
But has Ben's style of play over the past couple of years become a weakness for the black and gold?
"No, I don't think he's a liability, but he's not what he once was, where we saw some of the greatness that he had when he was in his youth, he had the ability to almost make the defense standstill in the pocket," he said. "You'd see guys who would grab him and he'd sling them off of him, and he'd move around a little bit and he'd rumble and run and that's kind of gone. At age 39, which is normally the age when quarterbacks retire, with the exception of guys who go down to Tampa and drink from the fountain of youth, he's just like anybody else who's gotten old. We wish that, if you're a Steeler fan, they wish for a glimpse of previous Ben. We see small pockets during games, but he doesn't dominate a game like he used to."
Whether the Browns are with or without the services of Mayfield, the focus will once again be on the defending AFC Defensive Player of the Year, TJ Watt.
Watt is constantly disrupting offenses and getting to quarterbacks, but Lofton says there is a way to contain number 90.
"You've got to get three sets of hands on him," Lofton said. "Where defensive linemen beat the guy one-on-one is when they have an escape route. The hands might come from the outside in the form of a chip to keep him from beating you around the corner, they may come from the inside to keep him from taking an inside rush on you, but once those hands have to work to slow TJ Watt down, then someone else should be able to leap in there. So, TJ Watt can create rush opportunities for his teammates. You just have to know where he is every time you drop back to pass. Now, if he's on the sidelines, one of the things every offensive coordinator has on those big playcalling sheets is shots that we want to take when TJ Watt is off the field."
The Browns currently sit at 4-3 and the Steelers at 3-3.
With the Steelers coming off a bye week and crawling back to .500 after an overtime win over the Seahawks, they'll look to pull ahead of the Browns in the AFC North race, while the Browns will look to widen their gap of the Steelers.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Sunday and you can watch the game right here on KDKA.