Tomlin will use Garrett incident to rally team
By STEVE KING
Some thoughts as the Browns prepare to meet the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Heinz Field:
*Don’t let Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin fool you with his apparent disregard — with his “low-hanging fruit” comment — of the significance of Browns defensive end Myles Garrett playing at Heinz Field for the first time since he so infamously whacked Mason Rudolph with the Pittsburgh quarterback’s helmet, and got suspended for the rest of the season, in 2019 in Cleveland. There is no question that Tomlin is using the incident as a rallying cry for his team to not only beat the Browns, but to also completely negate Garrett’s impact on the game. I like Tomlin. I really do. However, he keeps trying to come off as this “business-as-usual” guy on everything, and if anyone ever believed that, which they didn’t, he blew his cover several years ago with the video of his profanity-laced, disrespectful tirade in the locker room against head coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots before they played them. Belichick, a big proponent of bulletin board material, ate that up like a hungry dog happening upon a slab of prime rib, and the Patriots, just as they always do, beat the Steelers like a drum.
*Like I mentioned the other day, the Browns have a better offense than the Steelers, even without running back Nick Chubb, but Pittsburgh has the better defense, by far. As such, then, the game could come down to special teams. If that’s the case, the Browns have some — actually, a lot of — work to do, especially with their coverage teams, which have been bad, and that’s putting it mildly. And if they don’t get the problem solved, the Browns won’t win Sunday and they might also fail to win some other games this season they otherwise would have won. Special teams matter, particularly in big games like this one, and while the kicking — field goals with Cody Parkay and punting with Jamie Gillan — has been good, the coverage is a real weak point that the Steelers will look to exploit with their speed.
*It will be imperative for Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, the offensive play-caller, to stay with the run even if Pittsburgh’s dominant run defense stops it early. The Browns have been good with the run, and against a defense like Pittsburgh’s, you need to be patient and committed with it to have any success. Keeping pounding on the defense until finally cracks, even if those runs — big ones — are few and far between, which can happen with a back like Kareem Hunt. This is the type of games for which the Browns drafted left tackle Jedrick Will Jr. and signed right tackle Jack Conklin in free agency.
*The Pittsburgh offense, whose coordinator is Randy Fichtnee, the son of former Browns safety Ross Fitchner of the 1964 NFL championship team, will look to use its speedy wideouts to beat the Cleveland defense on short crossing routes, just like the Steelers did against the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday.
*And finally, how much less intimidating will a nearly-empty Heinz Field be than a totally full one? I don’t think much, especially against a team like the Browns, who have won just once there since the place opened in 2001, and that was 17 years ago. So, then, the Browns have lost 16 straight there. The original Browns lost their first 16 games at Three Rivers Stadium from 1970-85 before winning 27-24 in 1986 on their way to finishing 12-4 and capturing the AFC Central title. Can the Browns break the streak again at 16? We’ll see.
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