The Steelers kept pace with the Ravens with a 24-9 win over winless Cleveland. The Steelers didn’t have a flawless game against the Browns, and there are certainly things that need worked on before they face the Colts.
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Harrison teared up in the locker room afterward. “We lost a couple really good players, I think the best at their position”. And we’ll be looking for mentions of your Black & Gold so we’ve got you covered.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS It’s hard to back a team as perennially feeble as the Jags, who are poised to miss the playoffs for the ninth straight year, but statistically they haven’t played as poorly as other bottom dwellers.
Jackson spoke to Pryor and Thomas about their comments Monday but insisted he isn’t concerned the team is splintering as the pressure builds to avoid the second 0-16 season in National Football League history. Three NFL teams previously went 0-11 before winning a game, while seven had even worse starts.
Doubtful. Would a more dedicated running game have provided better protection for Cody Kessler and Josh McCown on a day when the Steelers produced eight sacks and chased Browns quarterbacks from the pocket time and again?
The Browns have five games remaining and are unlikely to be favored in any of them – facing the New York Giants and Cincinnati at home, Buffalo on the road, San Diego at home, and Pittsburgh on the road.
Regardless of whether we are putting the blame on Cody Kessler and Josh McCown for holding the ball too long (which is a problem for them) or the offensive line for playing poorly (which has also been the case in nearly every game this season), there needs to be some progress shown from week to week.
As for Robert Griffin III, coach Hue Jackson conceded it might be a “little early” to consider him part of the quarterback mix.
Some of the frustration is beginning to boil over.
Receiver Terrelle Pryor was fuming that the team allowed its quarterbacks to be hit so much.
Left tackle Joe Thomas, the team’s captain and All-Pro anchor of the woebegone offensive line, was even more pointed in addressing the front office’s offseason decision not to re-sign free-agent center Alex Mack or right tackle Mitchell Schwartz.
Pryor spoke from his heart, which seems fractured. You’ve got to lie in the bed that you’ve made, and I don’t make the decisions on who comes and goes. You need what you need when you play the sport we play. Quarterbacks get hurt when they get hit like that.
Jackson was asked if he minded that Pryor spoke out.
Jackson also said he still believes he is the man for the job. “I have to regroup with the guys and regroup with our coaches, and we have to keep pressing forward”.
“We were on the field more than we needed to be”, he said, per Ryan Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “When that final second ticked off the clock in Green Bay, we realized we were 0-16 and the worst team to ever suit up”.
“Awesome”, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. I understand where we are. “And I know our guys recognize that”.
“I was thinking about my father, how he’s not here for it”, said Harrison, courtesy of the Post-Gazette. He wasn’t prepared to lose on this scale, but he’s determined to not let the losing slow him down. I am going to run through it, and I am going to deal with it head on.
“We knew with the weather we had today that he was going to have to be big for us”, said Roethlisberger, who improved to 20-2 in starts against Cleveland, still paying for not drafting the OH native in 2004.
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On Sunday, we saw that the Steelers likely intend to use Javon Hargrave to absorb a good number of Heyward’s snaps, mixing him in a good amount as a nickel interior pass rusher in addition to the snaps that he accumulates at the nose tackle position.
