CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For the first time this season, the Browns won a home game, beating the Buffalo Bills 19-16 at FirstEnergy Stadium to improve to 3-6.
However, there isn’t much time to enjoy the victory because it’s a short game week as Pittsburgh comes to Cleveland on Thursday for a primetime AFC North game.
Versus Buffalo, Cleveland featured both running back Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt more than 20 times on the field together. The shakeup, called 20 personnel, made defending Cleveland difficult between the 20-yard lines.
Chubb continued his ground-and-pound season, rushing for 116 yards on 20 carries while Hunt added 30 yards on the ground and caught seven balls for 44 yards.
Cleveland must bring its versatility Thursday, as the Steelers defense is playing commanding football after holding the Los Angeles Rams to 12 points on Sunday and forcing four turnovers. It’ll be a true test as the Steelers have won three straight.
Here are five things you need to know about the Browns’ upcoming opponent.
1) Steelers are playing winning football
When quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went down with a right elbow injury in Week 2 -- ending his year -- most thought Pittsburgh’s season was over. Pittsburgh already officially lost Le’Veon Bell in the offseason and traded away All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown. Without Roethlisberger, how could Pittsburgh compete in the AFC North or even for a wildcard?
It started slowly as the Steelers lost that game Roethlisberger exited by two points, followed by dropping a four-point game to the 49ers before winning five of their next six games. Pittsburgh’s lone loss over those six games came against Baltimore in a three-point contest.
All of a sudden, a team that was written off and mocked for trading their 2020 first-round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick is now 5-4, very much alive in the playoff hunt and playing winning football.
Much credit belongs to coach Mike Tomlin, the symbol of stability inside what proved to be a turbulent locker room over the past few years. Once again when chaos struck in Week 2, Tomlin remained himself, engineered a sound football team and salvaged a season.
2) Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is a scoring machine
In Week 3, the Steelers acquired Fitzpatrick for their first-round pick in this year’s draft. As Fitzpatrick continues to play well and help Pittsburgh win games, he simultaneously makes the trade look better for Pittsburgh as he not only helps the Steelers win but he’s scoring points like an offensive player.
In two straight games, Fitzpatrick has forced a game-swinging turnover and converted the play into points himself. Against the Colts last week, Fitzpatrick intercepted backup quarterback Brian Hoyer and scored; and on Sunday the former Alabama safety recovered a Jared Goff fumble and took it 40 yards to the house.
He’s already providing instant dividends for Pittsburgh while proving he’s one of the league’s best safeties. Only 22, he’ll be a pillar of the Steelers defense for years to come.
In eight games with Pittsburgh, Fitzpatrick has four interceptions, the most by a Steeler since 2010.
3) Pittsburgh defense becoming one of league’s best
With the addition of Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh has transformed its defense from a weak link to a vintage Steeler strength. Entering Week 10, the Steelers ranked No. 5 in defense DVOA (-8.8 percent). (According to Football Outsiders, DVOA measures a team’s efficiency by comparing success on every single play to a league average based on situation and opponent.)
Pittsburgh is strong against both the run and pass. The Steelers run DVOA is -10.6 percent while their pass DVOA is -6.6, both very respectable numbers. That means for the fourth straight week, Cleveland faces a stiff defense that will allow nothing easy.
By acquiring young talent and nailing some draft picks, the youthful athleticism of the Steelers defense flows sideline to sideline with rookie linebacker Devin Bush and edge rusher T.J. Watt. Inside, Pittsburgh boasts former Buckeye Cameron Heyward, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound run-stopper who is ranked third at his position according to Pro Football Focus.
Former Brown Joe Haden is still a focal point of Pittsburgh’s’ pass defense starting at cornerback. He is his third season with the Steelers.
4) Mason Rudolph does enough to win
In Week 2 when Rudolph was thrust into the starting lineup after Roethlisberger got hurt, it was unclear what Pittsburgh had. Rudolph, a 2018 third-round pick, was a second-team All-American his senior year at Oklahoma State but like any quarterback selected outside the first round, there were plenty of question marks.
Through six games, Rudolph has thrown for 1,088 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. He is completing 66 percent of his passes and has a quarterback rating of 94. The most important job of a starting quarterback is winning games, and Rudolph is doing that.
Against Miami and Cincinnati, he threw for more than 250 yards and two touchdowns in winning efforts. In his four other starts, he hasn’t eclipsed 200 yards passing. Clearly, he isn’t a strength of the Steelers but he also isn’t losing them games either.
A month ago, Rudolph suffered a concussion in a Week 5 game against Baltimore. He missed one game in concussion protocol before returning. In his absence, Devlin Hodges started and beat the Chargers, throwing for 132 yards and a touchdown.
5) James Conner’s availability remains a question
In a Week 8 win against Miami, running back James Conner had a season-best game, rushing for 145 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, he injured his AC joint late in the game, forcing him to sit the past two games.
Moments after beating the Dolphins, Tomlin announced Conner was going to be considered day-to-day. That’s now looking more like week-to-week, as the Pro Bowl runner missed his second straight game on Sunday. With a short week ahead, Conner’s status for Thursday is unclear, but it seems unlikely he’ll play.
In his absence running back Jaylen Samuels lead Pittsburgh with 14 carries on Sunday while Tony Brooks-James added six touches.
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