A few weeks ago, few would have expected this Week 4 battle between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers to mean anything. With both teams surprisingly at 2-1, first place in the AFC North is on the line and instead of being dead and buried at 0-3, this rejuvenated Browns team, behind Comeback Player of the Year candidate Deshaun Watson, has a shot to beat the Steelers in Cleveland for the fifth year in a row.
The trajectory for this Browns team can change drastically if it can move to 3-1. It won’t be easy at all, not that it ever is against Pittsburgh, but analysts and experts are going to start believing in the Browns more and more if they keep this up.
NFL champion head coach Jon Gruden grew up a Browns fan and always holds a soft spot in his heart for his hometown team. During a recent episode of The Gruden Family Football Show, he gave his prediction for Thursday night’s battle, which couldn’t have been easy since he doesn’t foresee his hometown Browns pulling this one off.
“I love the Steelers. I think their defense can and has to play better than they did last week against Cincinnati. I just don’t think the Browns are equipped to pass protect against the Steelers. They have a lot of young guys and on a short week with a lack of preparation, I think advantage Steelers,” said Gruden.
Gruden clearly put any bias he might have aside to do his job as an objective analyst. His concerns are valid because T.J. Watt is going to be a massive test for rookie left tackle Spencer Fano, who has looked great in his first three games. Right tackle Tytus Howard and rookie right guard Austin Barber will have their hands full with Watt as well.
With 3.5 sacks already, Watt is up to his usual antics and will be gunning to put out the fire that is beginning to burn in Cleveland. This offense has shown signs of life for the first time in years under Deshaun Watson and the line has done a great job protecting him over the past couple of weeks as well. Watson was sacked just twice in each of Cleveland’s two wins.
The last time Watson faced the Steelers was in Week 3 of the 2023 season. It was the same game where Nick Chubb’s horrific knee injury occurred and the Steelers took Watson down six times. Watt got him once, forcing Watson to fumble, which he picked up and ran back for a touchdown.
Watson has also never beaten the Steelers in his career. This is a big one for him and the team, and we’ll see if he can prove Gruden and the other doubters wrong.
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