CLEVELAND -- Will the moment be too big?
That will be a big question that surrounds Sunday's game between the Steelers and Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium. And it will be a question asked of both teams.
Mason Rudolph gets a chance to show he remains a part of the Steelers' future. The Browns have a chance to show they belong in the playoffs.
Rudolph will start this game in place of Ben Roethlisberger, one of several starters the team is resting in this game with the AFC North title wrapped up.
For the Browns, that question will be asked of the whole team. Needing only to win to secure the franchise's first playoff berth since 2002, are these players up to the task?
They weren't last week in a similar situation, as Cleveland dropped a 23-16 loss the Jets, handing New York its second consecutive win after an 0-13 start to the season. That placed the Browns in a win-or-else situation against a team it has beaten just three times and tied once in the past decade despite playing twice per year. That includes a 38-7 win by the Steelers over the Browns earlier this season at Heinz Field in Week 6.
"I feel the weight of it," said Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry of the team's 18-year playoff drought. "That is why it is so important to me. One of the first things that I said when I first got here is that it is definitely important to me and definitely something that I train all offseason for. It is definitely that I put on my shoulders and on my back. All of our dreams and our goals are aligned to be able to play these meaningful games, get into the playoffs and win championships here in Cleveland. I think the weight is not just on my shoulders, but it is on everybody’s shoulders. I think everybody wants this really, really badly.”
To do that, the Browns will have to win a regular season finale for the first time in their past 11 tries. Seven of those season-ending losses have come against the Steelers.
For Rudolph, the game will be about redemption.
Drafted by the Steelers to be a potential replacement for Roethlisberger, he became the surprise starter in 2019 when Roethlisberger suffered a season-ended elbow injury in Week 2. Rudolph wound up starting eight games for the Steelers, including a 21-7 loss to the Browns here last season on a Thursday night. That game ended with a brawl when Rudolph and defensive end Myles Garrett became entangled and the quarterback tried to push Garrett off of him.
It ended with Garrett ripping the helmet off Rudolph and hitting him over the head with it before being tackled by Steelers offensive lineman David DeCastro in the end zone. Garrett was suspended for the remainder of the season, while Cleveland's Larry Ogunjobi and the Steelers' Maurkice Pouncey received shorter suspensions.
Both organizations were fined $250,000 and nearly $750,000 in fines were handed out to the 33 players who were disciplined for what occurred.
Garrett's camp let leak during his appeal hearing a week later that he had reacted as he did to Rudolph because the quarterback had used a racial slur against him, something Rudolph and the Steelers vehemently denied.
Garrett was suspended and Rudolph had been benched two weeks later for the rematch, but Garrett again repeated his accusations in the offseason after his suspension had been lifted.
Rudolph said he has not spoken to Garrett nor does he have any plans to do so but said he would be open to doing so. Garrett said the same.
"I have no problem reaching out to him or talking to him before or after the game," said Garrett, who was named Cleveland's captain for this game by head coach Kevin Stefanski. "I would never say I am smack-talking during the game. I will just enjoy it. I will go out there and play the best I can. At the end of the day, it is not me versus him. It is me versus their line and the Steelers versus the Browns. If he wants to talk after the game, talk before the game or whatever happens, let it come naturally. I do not think anybody has any problems with each other."
That might depend on who wins and who loses. There's a chance if the Browns do win this one the two teams could run this game back again next week in the first round of the playoffs. Only that game would be played at Heinz Field.
And that's why the Steelers are sitting not only Roethlisberger, but defensive player of the year candidate T.J. Watt, defensive lineman Cam Heyward and Pouncey, as well. They also will be without placekicker Chris Boswell for the third time in the past four weeks, while strong safety Terrell Edmunds will miss his first career game with a shoulder injury.
The Browns have had some issues of their own. Last week against the Jets, their entire receiving corps was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 List because of close contact tracing. That group, including Landry, will be back for this game, but Cleveland will be without cornerback Denzel Ward, safeties Karl Joseph and Andrew Sendejo and linebackers B.J. Goodson and Malcolm Smith. All have been placed on the COVID-19 List this week.
Those issues caused the Browns to have to close their facility on both Wednesday and Thursday of this week, perhaps altering their preparation.
That's why the Steelers aren't worried about who isn't playing. They just want to finish the season off with a win, regardless of circumstances.
"I think I'm just motivated that I got this opportunity," said Rudolph. "All the guys who have an increased role this week, Coach (Mike) Tomlin has talked about engineering a victory. When you don’t have our leader on offense, Ben, our Hall of Fame quarterback, as well as some other players, it’s important that we know we have to bring the energy as a team. It’s very motivating in an of itself that I’ve got a chance to play this week, as well as a lot of other guys."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Who: Steelers (12-3) vs. Browns (10-5)
• When: 1:02 p.m.
• Where: FirstEnergy Stadium
• Forecast: 39°, periods of rain/snow
• TV: KDKA, CBS (national)
• Radio: 102.5 WDVE, ESPN Pittsburgh
• Streaming: Steelers Nation Radio
• Satellite: Sirius XM 382, online 826
• Boxscore: NFL Game Center
• Media notes: Steelers | Browns
THE INJURY REPORT
Steelers: S Terrell Edmunds (shoulder, out), PK Chris Boswell (groin, out), QB Ben Roethlisberger (coach's decision, out)
Browns: G Nick Harris (knee, out), G Wyatt Teller (ankle, questionable), LB Sione Takitaki (ankle, questionable), LB Tae Davis (ankle, questionable), OT Kendall Lamm (illness, questionable)
THE KEY VARIABLE
Is Baker Mayfield ready to take the next step and lead a team to the playoffs?
Perhaps we should modify that statement. Is he ready to be the quarterback for a playoff team.
It's the Browns' running game that has led the way for Cleveland this season, as the Browns rank fourth in the NFL in rushing yards per game at 145.5. When the Browns run the ball well, they typically win.
When they don't, well, they don't win.
The Browns have averaged 99.4 rushing yards per game in their five losses, including being held to 75 yards in a 38-7 loss to the Steelers in Week 6 at Heinz Field.
The Steelers held Mayfield to 118 passing yards and sacked him four times before he was pulled in the third quarter. He also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by Minkah Fitzpatrick on his first pass attempt of the game.
In four career games against the Steelers, Mayfield has completed just 56.8 percent of his passes, throwing six touchdowns and four interceptions while being sacked 12 times. He's also lost a fumble and failed to top 200 yards in any of those games.
"It starts with me taking care of the ball. You look at the first third down of the game and the pick-six, that is not a great start for us and then just a bad light scramble-drill throw interception," Mayfield said of the first meeting this season. "We have to establish the run game. I have to take care of the ball. Just overall, there are so many things that when we watch that game we could have done better, but you do not want to dwell on that. It comes down to the fundamentals of what our identity is.”
Nick Chubb, who missed four games, has 959 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Kareem Hunt has gained 804 rushing yards. At one point, both were on pace to rush for 1,000 yards this season, but the Browns have fallen off the pace in recent weeks, including rushing for a season-low 45 yards in last week's 23-16 loss to the Jets.
Cleveland played that game without its top four wide receivers, who were all placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 List. They'll all be back for this game.
Though the Steelers will be without Watt, Heyward and Edmunds -- if not others -- in this game as they rest up for the playoffs, they know they have to stop the run first to be able to get after Mayfield.
The Steelers lead the NFL with 52 sacks, but 36 have come at home. And with Watt sitting out and other stalwarts potentially being pulled early from this game, are they capable of getting to Mayfield if they do stuff the run?
"I just want us to play and be competitive and beat the Cleveland Browns," said Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler. "That’s all I want to do. I’ll take what I’ve got and try to do it with that. Our guys will try to do it with whoever is out there and who’s playing."
THE HISTORY LESSON
The last time the Browns had a 10-win season, it was the Steelers that kept them out of the playoffs. And so, back to 2007 we go for this week's history lesson.
Since rejoining the NFL in 1999, the Browns have had one other season with double digits in wins, but their 10-win season in 2007, which was unexpected. After all, they had been 4-12 the year before in Romeo Crennel's third season as the team's head coach. And they had finished in last place in the AFC North in each of the previous four seasons, so when they brought a 5-3 record into their midseason game with the Steelers in 2007, it was surprising.
And the Browns felt it was their year, though the Steelers were off to a 6-2 start under their first-year head coach Tomlin.
Nov. 11, 2007, they met for the second time. The Steelers had won the first meeting between the two, 34-7, in Cleveland. But the Browns won five of their next seven games, building some confidence in starting quarterback Derek Anderson along the way.
That confidence was on full display early as Anderson threw touchdown passes to Kellen Winslow, Lawrence Vickers and Braylon Edwards as the Browns took a 21-9 lead into the half at Heinz Field.
But, much as they did last week against the Colts, when they stormed back from a 21-7 halftime deficit, the Steelers dominated the second half.
Roethlisberger, who had thrown for 99 yards and an interception in the first half, threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward midway through the third quarter to cut Cleveland's lead to 21-16, then ran for a 30-yard touchdown, the second-longest run of his career, to give the Steelers a 24-21 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Backyard Ben! #Steelers pic.twitter.com/ZmJCIjOXCJ
— That Blitz Guy ✨ (@ThatBlitzGuy) January 1, 2021
On the ensuing kickoff, noted Steelers foil Josh Cribbs returned the kick 100 yards for a touchdown. The Steelers challenged whether Cribbs had stepped out of bounds, but the play was upheld and the Brown had quickly regained the lead, 28-24.
Getting the ball back again quickly with 11:10 remaining in the game, the Steelers took over at their own 22. The Steelers went on a 14-play, 78-yard touchdown drive that saw them overcome an 11-yard sack by Eric Wright on second-and-7 when Roethlisberger connected on a short pass to Heath Miller that Miller turned into a 20-yard gain to convert the third-and-18.
Roethlisberger finished off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Miller that put the Steelers back in the lead, 31-28, with 3:13 remaining in the game.
Anderson threw three-straight incompletions and the Browns punted the ball away with 2:54 remaining, but the Steelers failed to close the game out, punting the ball back to the Browns with 1:04 left on the clock.
Anderson completed a 16-yard pass to Joe Jurevicius and a 13-yarder to Winslow to the Pittsburgh 38 with 27 seconds remaining, then spiked the ball before throwing a 3-yard pass to Jurevicius. But he was tackled in bounds by Troy Polamalu, and the Browns again spiked the ball, bringing up fourth down.
Phil Dawson's 52-yard field goal attempt at tying the game was no good and the Steelers held on to win, 31-28.
The game proved to be pivotal as the Steelers and Browns finished the season with identical 10-6 records but the division title went to Pittsburgh based on a series sweep of Cleveland.
In fact, Cleveland failed to make the playoffs despite its 10-win season, losing out on tiebreakers to the Titans, who also finished 10-6.
Anderson, who would make the Pro Bowl that season, finished just 16 of 35 for 123 yards and three touchdowns as the Browns were held to 163 total yards.
After their slow first half, the Steelers heated up, finishing with 401 yards as Roethlisberger threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns, while Willie Parker added 105 yards on the ground.
KARL ROSER / STEELERS
Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph (2) watches practice earlier this season on the South Side.
THE MAIN MATCHUP
There seems to be a narrative that Rudolph's entire 2019 season was a train wreck. While it certainly trended that way in his Week 11 start against the Browns and then the following week against the Bengals, Rudolph actually had played well enough for the Steelers to win four of his first six starts prior to that fateful game in Cleveland.
Prior to that game, Rudolph had completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 1,330 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions in seven games -- six of them starts -- after taking over for an injured Roethlisberger in Week 2. His passer rating was 93.0.
Then, against the Browns, James Conner got injured in the first quarter. Diontae Johnson and JuJu Smith-Schuster also left the game with injuries. For much of the second half, Rudolph's weapons in that game were Jaylen Samuels and Trey Edmunds at running back, with the only receivers available being James Washington, Johnny Holton and Tevin Jones, who had been signed off the practice squad.
The result was the Steelers falling behind 14-0 at the half in a Thursday night game and Rudolph being under constant pressure. He was 12 of 21 for 102 yards with an interception in the first half. But as the game wore on, the Browns continued to pressure him and he finished 23 of 44 for 221 yards and a touchdown with four interceptions. He was sacked four times and hit 11 times.
"I didn’t think that we protected very well in that game as we needed to, so that put him a little uneasy, but it would have put Ben uneasy, it would have put any quarterback uneasy," Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. "We prided ourselves in protecting our quarterback and they applied a lot of pressure and they put a lot of hits on him. I still go back. I took some shots in that game and had we found a way to come down with a couple of them — I’m not talking about five, just come down with one or two — it’s a whole different game. And it would have been a lot more exciting."
As it was, the only excitement that came was in the closing moments.
Rudolph has played sparingly this season, playing only in a mop-up role behind Roethlisberger. He's excited for the opportunity to show how much he feels he's improved from last year -- his first true NFL playing time -- to this.
He believes he still has a future as a starter in the NFL.
"I do. I see myself as that," he said. "There are plenty of quarterbacks who have sat behind Hall of Fame quarterbacks and it has benefitted them down the road. What a positive to sit and watch a guy work like Ben with his knowledge of the game. And he’s willing to pass that down."
And he doesn't care who the opponent might be against which he gets his next opportunity to show that.
With Roethlisberger now 38 and having just one more year remaining on his current contract, every chance Rudolph gets to play is an opportunity to audition as a potential long-term replacement.
He's had plenty of practice time to show the coaching staff he's improved -- Roethlisberger doesn't practice on Wednesdays -- but this will be his first chance at extended playing time, something he would have gotten in August had the preseason not been canceled.
"I think every time I get an opportunity — any quarterback or any player on our team — to play in a game when you haven’t had a chance to play all year, those plays are weighted differently by the coaching staff," Rudolph said. "I’m excited to play in a game. Without a preseason this year, you try to stay sharp. But as we know, game reps are different. I’m excited to get into the flow of the game. To look at this as anything other than an opportunity to prove yourself to your teammates and coaches is silly. I don’t want to make it too big. It’s a great chance to score some points and try to win a game."
Rudolph, a third-round draft pick in 2018, believes he can be the long-term replacement for Roethlisberger. His belief in his skillset has never faltered.
The Steelers are interested to see what kind of leap he has made in Year 3, as well.
"I do believe I see a confidence. I don’t hear a confidence," Fichtner said. "He doesn’t have to tell me that he’s confident, you can just feel it. He understands the concepts that you talk about. He shakes his head yes, I feel it, I’m good. He goes out and represents it on the field. I think his communication skills have gotten better all around in the huddle, in the locker room, in individual meetings. Just his whole ‘Mason’ has just kind of grown up a little bit.
"I’m very excited about the opportunity for him to play. I wish he could have had a preseason. ... I feel really confident in him. I feel like he has put the time in. This is his opportunity and he will drive the bus."
THE TEN DATA POINTS
• Mayfield completed a season-low 52.8 percent of his passes last week with the team's top four wide receivers on the COVID-19 List.
• Mayfield averages just 4.5 yards per pass attempt when pressured this season. The Steelers lead the league, pressuring opposing quarterbacks on 31.8 percent of their dropbacks.
• Roethlisberger's 608 pass attempts are the third-most by a quarterback 38 or older. Tom Brady had 624 at 38 in 2015 and 613 in 2019.
• Johnson leads the Steelers with 827 receiving yards. Unless he gets 173 yards in this game, the Steelers will go without having a 1,000-yard receiver in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2006 and 2007.
• Fitzpatrick enters the game with a team-high 74 tackles, six more than Vince Williams and Terrell Edmunds for the team lead.
• Since 1978 when the league went to a 16-game format, the Steelers are 25-15 in their regular season finale.
• The Steelers have four wins this season when they have trailed at halftime, matching the Chiefs for the most in the NFL this season. On three of those occasions, the Steelers have trailed by 10 or more in the second half.
• The Steelers have allowed a league-low 13 sacks this season. Green Bay is second with 20.
• Chase Claypool's 772 receiving yards are fourth-most among rookie receivers this season. He trails Justin Jefferson of the Vikings (1,267), Tee Higgins of the Bengals (908) and CeeDee Lamb of the Cowboys (892) entering Week 17. Claypool's eight receiving touchdowns leads all rookies.
• The Steelers are allowing an NFL-low 75.6 passer rating. The Rams (80.1) are second.
THE FANTASY CORNER
Shame on me for going with Jared Goff again. I only scored 116.56 points, which is what I deserve for using the Rams stack. We'll try to get back in the money this week. As I did last year, I'm going to build a fantasy lineup using Draft Kings and a $50,000 salary cap.
Quarterback: Kirk Cousins, Vikings ($6,100) -- Did you see what the Bucs did to the Lions last week in just a half of play? Detroit is a mess.
Running back: Jonathan Taylor, Colts ($7,400), Jeff Wilson, 49ers, ($6,000) -- Taylor ran well against the Steelers last week and gets the Jaguars this week. Wilson will get the carries for the 49ers against the Seahawks. And the 49ers running game is gold.
Wide receiver: Adam Thielen, Vikings ($7,400), Amari Cooper, Cowboys ($5,800), Antonio Brown, Bucs ($5,500) -- Thielen stacks with Cousins. Cooper has been on a hot streak. Brown is a nice value play.
Tight end: Irv Smith, Vikings ($3,900) -- I've been on the Smith bandwagon all season. And it's paying off in recent weeks.
Flex: Nyheim Hines, Colts ($4,900) -- The Colts need the win this week and Hines will catch a fair number of passes.
Defense: Chargers ($2,900) -- The Chiefs will be sitting players, including Patrick Mahomes. The Chargers are a nice value play.
Our football staff predicts the game:
Dale Lolley (12-3): This game will not be the cakewalk some might think. The pressure is obviously all on the Browns, who will be trying to secure a playoff spot for the first time since 2002. And Rudolph will have more weapons on hand than he did a year ago, when he was throwing to Johnny Holton and Tevin Jones for most of the second half of a 21-7 loss. The Browns will probably win this, but it will be close. Browns, 24-17
Ramon Foster (11-4): This is kind of wild. The Steelers' defense is good enough to get this job done, even with T.J. not out there. And on offense, there's an opportunity for Mason to air it out with the Browns missing Ward. I do pick Pittsburgh. As many strides as the Browns have made, they still find a way to pull a Jets. Steelers, 23-14
Chris Carter (12-3): This game is going to be weird and wacky with dumb penalties, silly turnovers and head scratching moments abound. The Browns have the stars aligned to beat their big brother while the Steelers rest several stars. They’re still not the real deal, but they’re not the 0-15 Browns that lost to Landry Jones on New Years Day 2018. Browns, 16-13
Tom Reed (12-3): The Steelers have beaten the Browns with backup quarterbacks in the past, including last season. But this iteration of the Browns, with a majority of their pass catchers returning to the lineup, is good enough to beat a Pittsburgh team with little on the line. Browns, 24-14
Dejan Kovacevic (11-4): Wait, they lost to the Jets? With a chance to get into the playoffs for the first time since the invention of the wheel? And we're assuming the Browns can't butcher this, too? Steelers, 18-10
