The Pittsburgh Steelers, who host the Browns on Sunday at Heinz Field, are suffering through the same kind of season that head coach Marty Schottenheimer’s team did in 1988.
And therein lies a lesson for the Browns. But more on that a moment.
You remember the 1988 Browns, don’t you?
After two consecutive devastating losses to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game, the Browns, with Bernie Kosar coming into his own as one of the best quarterbacks in the game, went into the 1988 season as the odds-on favorites to make it to the Super Bowl for the first time, if not also winning it.
But those hopes and dreams were, in essence, shattered in the second quarter of the opener at Kansas City when a missed blitz pickup allowed Kosar to be hit, causing him to sprain a ligament in his throwing elbow. That started into motion the most injury-riddled season in Browns history, especially at quarterback.
They went through four different quarterbacks – Gary Danielson, Mike Pagel and Don Strock, in addition to Kosar, who was sidelined twice by injuries.
In addition, again due to injuries, wide receiver Webster Slaughter missed exactly half the season, playing just eight games, and fullback Kevin Mack sat out all of part of 10 contests, including five games completely, or nearly a third of the year.
That would have devastated almost every other team, but the Browns, who had won the Central Division title in each of the previous three seasons, still managed to go 10-6 and earned a wild-card playoff berth.
How could the Browns have possibly done that?
Because the rest of the team was so good, filled with an abundance of talent at every position, that, with everybody simply doing a little more, the club was able to continue to win enough games to get into the postseason.
That’s kind of where where the Steelers are at right now. While they haven’t been crushed as much as those 1988 Browns – not even close, really — they still have been saddled with much, much more than their share.
First and foremost, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is sidelined by an injury for the second time this season and will not start against the Browns, giving way to Landry Jones. Running back Le’Veon Bell and kicker Shaun Suisham have been lost for the rest of the year, and center Maurkice Pouncey might possibly return by the end of the season, though that is iffy at best.
Roethlisberger is the cornerstone of the team, and the others are right behind him. So the Steelers are hurting in more ways than one.
Yet, because of the abundance of talent on the rest of the roster, the healthy players have been able to bond together, do a little more and keep the team afloat.
Picked before the season by some as a team that would unseat the New England Patriots and represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, the Steelers are certainly below where they thought they’d be just past the halfway point of the year. However, they are still 5-4 and, if the season ended today, would be the AFC’s second wild card.
The Browns are far from being at that level. They don’t have a quarterback good enough to hold Roethlisberger’s shoes, and the rest of their roster isn’t nearly as competent as that of Pittsburgh.
So when they start having some injuries – cornerback Joe Haden continues to miss time and fellow Pro Bowler will miss Sunday’s game – it doesn’t take long for a bad team to become even worse.
Thus, the last-place Browns need to stop blowing first-round picks in the NFL Draft, and they also need to find their franchise quarterback, before they are good enough from top to bottom to compete consistently in the North with the Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens.
