On Sunday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Steelers will travel to FirstEnergy Stadium to take on the Cleveland Browns in an AFC North matchup. The Steelers are last in the division with a 3-3 record and are coming off a 23-20 overtime home win against the Seattle Seahawks before their bye week. Ben Roethlisberger finished the game going 29-of-40 for 229 yards with a touchdown. The Browns are third in the AFC North with a 4-3 record and are coming off a 17-14 win on Thursday night over the Denver Broncos. Case Keenum got the start and finished going 21-of-33 for 199 yards and a touchdown.
Rookie Runner
The Pittsburgh Steelers love to get their rookie running back Najee Harris involved in the offense in the running and passing game this season. So far this year, he has 102 carries for 388 yards (3.8 yards per attempt), a pair of touchdowns on the ground and 34 receptions for 244 yards (7.2 yards per catch), and a pair of receiving touchdowns as well. In his previous game against the Seahawks, Harris finished with 24 rushes for 81 yards (3.4 yards per carrying), six catches for 46 yards (7.7 yards per reception), and a touchdown. It will do wonders for Pittsburgh if he can figure out how to be involved even more in the offense.
This season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been a decent defensive team as they have given up 22 points per game. In their previous game against the Seattle Seahawks, they allowed 20 points on 309 total yards of offense (165 passing, 144 rushings). The Seahawks did not convert on money downs as Seattle went 3-of-12 on third-down attempts. The Steelers need to defend the run better as they gave up 5.3 yards per rushing attempt. If they can improve the defense against the run, it will do wonders for the team.
Security Blanket
The Cleveland Browns offense is dealing with many injuries this season, but one player that has remained healthy has been tight end David Njoku. So far this season, he has 17 catches on 21 targets for 284 yards (16.7 yards per reception) with a touchdown. In his last game against the Denver Broncos, he finished with a pair of catches on two targets for 18 yards (9.0 yards per reception). If he can be more of a threat, the Browns can open up the running game.
The Cleveland Browns have been playing pretty well on the defensive side of the football as they are allowing 23.6 points per game. In their previous game against the Denver Broncos, they gave up 14 points on 223 total yards of offense (182 passing, 41 rushings). The Broncos struggled to run the ball as they averaged 2.9 rushing yards per attempt. If the defense can continue to be great, it will do wonders for their playoff chances.
Who to Bet
With the question marks surrounding the health of Baker Mayfield and some of the skill position players for the Cleveland Browns, I do not like their chances at home against a healthier Pittsburgh Steelers team in a divisional matchup. The Steelers are 25-9-2 ATS in their last 36 games as an underdog. Big Ben should not turn the football over, and I don’t like the Baker Mayfield/Case Keenum situation at quarterback. D’Ernest Johnson had a monster game last time, but Pittsburgh is a better run defense. All in all, go with the Steelers to cover on the road here.
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