Steelers Destroy Browns, Clinch #2 Seed in Playoffs

The Steelers have now won 14 of 15 and 20 of 22 against the Browns after the man handled them today 41-9.  The win while big in scroring, was also big for the Steelers playoff run. This win locked up the #2 seed, a first round bye and gave the Steelers at least one home game in the playoffs. (We are hearing they will be playing on 1/15 at 4:30pm by the way). 

It was all Pittburgh from the get go. Cleveland received the ball first and on their opening drive Troy Polamalu picked off a Colt McCoy pass to give the ball to Pittsburgh on their own 44. The very next play Big Ben threw a deep bomb to the speedy Mike Wallace and the Steelers took an early 7-0 lead. They neve r looked back from there taking a 14-0 lead and a 31-3 lead into the half.

It was a stellar day for Big Ben as he was 15 for 22 and a whopping 280 yards with 2 TD and no interceptions.  Oh by the way, he only play 2.5 quarters.  After the Steelers took a 38-3 lead, Leftwich and the rest of the subs came into the game. This was done in an effort to keep the team healthy for the playoffs. Unfortunatley it probably should have been done earlier for Maurkice Pounce as he left the game with an injury. Rumor has it as a stinger, so he should be ok. We were  a bit frustrated about that but as long as he’s ok we’ll get over it.  Other than that, if you couldn’t tell, the offense dominated. Wallace led the way with 105 yards on 3 catches, sprinkle in Hines Ward, Heath Miller and 5 other receivers and it was a great day for the passing game. Hell, Randle El even threw a TD pass today. It truly was a thing of  beauty.

The ground attack was questionable as Rashard Mendenhall only 36 yards on 14 carries. That is not going to get it done during crunch time. The team had 30 carries for 100 yards even which is 3.3 yards a carry. We tend to think a good average is 4.0, that needs to improve.  They have a week off to fix that.

The defense was it’s usual self led by Lawrence Timmons with 9 tackles, they had 4 sacks and 3 picks. Troy Polamalu was super man in his retun with his pick but he also did another ‘fly over’ the line of scrimmage. It was great to see him out there.

The key to all of this is they won, getting the bye week and the home game. The bye week should allow everyone to get the rest they need and get healthy.  There are even thoughts that Aaron Smith may return for the playoffs which will be a huge addition. If you thought the Steelers looked fresh today with a 10 day gap between games, let’s see what they can do after 13 days. 

So who will they play you’re asking? Here are the scenarios. If the Jets beat the Colts, then the Steelers will play either the Ravens or the Chiefs.  If the Colts beat the Jets then the Steelers play the Colts.  The best scenario here is the Jets win and the Chiefs win and the Steelers get the Chiefs. We think that would provide the easiest road to the AFC Championship game. Either way, you take what you get and you go from there. Right now the Steelers have a bye to find out what’s in store next.

Great regular season, let’s keep it going in the post season boys!

12-4, up next: TBD