FIRST QUARTER A DISASTER ON A HISTORIC SCALE
You knew it was bad, but don’t you want the full extent of the disastrous start to the Steelers’ first playoff game in three years?
By giving up 28 points to the Cleveland Browns — and scoring none of their own — in the first quarter Sunday night at Heinz Field, the Steelers arguably had the worst opening frame in NFL history. The Browns were the first team to score 28 points in the first quarter of a playoff game since 1969, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
It all began with a most embarrassing first play from scrimmage. Maurkice Pouncey’s high snap that the Browns recovered for a touchdown 14 seconds into the game was the first time a defensive touchdown was scored on the first play from scrimmage in a playoff game since 1965, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
The Browns hadn’t scored even 14 points in the first quarter against the Steelers since 2000, and hadn’t scored 14 points in the first quarter of a playoff game since 1954. As for the Steelers, they had never had three turnovers in the first quarter with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback.
All that against a team many accused the Steelers of overlooking this week — and perhaps with good reason.
A comment from JuJu Smith-Schuster made the rounds this week as a perceived slight against the Browns, and it was even blasted out from Myles Garrett’s Instagram page in a post hyping up Cleveland as a team not to be taken lightly.
But those weren’t even the most audacious remarks by a Steelers player this week. Far from it, actually. On the final episode of the SiriusXM podcast “17 Weeks,” Steelers tight end Eric Ebron had to stop himself Friday while previewing the Browns rematch.
“Kudos to them if they can knock us out, but I don’t see it happening. I don’t,” Ebron said, then had a good laugh. “They really ain’t even supposed to be here. We was chilling [in Week 17]. We was letting y’all in. Boys [as in, the Steelers] ain’t really want to play Baltimore. Let me stop.”
Ebron, of course, was referring to the Steelers resting a few of their top players for the regular-season finale. And by losing to the Browns, they set up a wild-card rematch. Had they beaten the Browns, they could’ve placed themselves into a first-round matchup with
the red-hot Ravens, who beat the Tennessee Titans on the road Sunday to move into the divisional round.
Roster moves
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin kept the Browns guessing all week about his shortyardage offense, but when push came to shove, he decided against dressing thirdstring quarterback Josh Dobbs Sunday night for the AFC wild-card playoff game against the Browns.
Dobbs dressed for the first time last week in the regular-season finale against the Browns and rushed twice for 20 yards when Roethlisberger was held out and Mason Rudolph started in his place. Tomlin said on Tuesday that dressing Dobbs for the playoff game was a “possibility” and said he would consider dressing all three quarterbacks, or either Dobbs or Rudolph.
Rudolph, as had been the case for the first 15 games, served as Roethlisberger’s backup Sunday night. He threw for 315 yards in the 2422 loss in Week 17 in Cleveland.
Running back Anthony McFarland, offensive lineman Danny Isidora, safety Antoine Brooks and defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs also were inactive for the Steelers, who did not promote anyone from the practice squad.
The Steelers dressed three tight ends with Kevin Rader active for a second consecutive game, giving the Pine- Richland High School product his NFL debut and NFL postseason debut in back-to-back weeks. In addition to serving as the No. 2 tight end, Rader received praise from Tomlin
for his work on special teams against the Browns in Week 17.
The Browns deactivated receivers Marvin Hall and JaMarcus Bradley, cornerback Brian Allen (a former Steelers draft pick), safeties Jovante Moffatt and Tedric Thompson and offensive lineman Alex Taylor.
The Browns were without several starters due to COVID protocols, including Pro Bowl offensive lineman Joel Bitonio and cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Kevin Johnson. In place of Bitonio, the Browns started Michael Dunn at left guard. Dunn went undrafted in 2017 and had never started an NFL game.
Kahn a target
In search of a new general manager, Houston hired a search firm to recommend candidates and one of the top suggestions was Steelers vice president of football and business administration Omar Khan, according to a report Sunday morning from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Schefter added that the Texans ultimately opted to veer away from Khan and the other top recommendation — former Pitt football player, now ESPN analyst Louis Riddick — to instead hire Nick Caserio of the New England Patriots. Khan, who formally interviewed with the Texans, is essentially general manager Kevin Colbert’s righthand man in the Steelers front office, a longtime salary cap guru and contract negotiator who has been with the organization since 2001.
Khan is often seen as one of the likeliest successors to
Colbert, who continues to return season after season on one- year contracts. Brandon Hunt, the Steelers pro scouting coordinator, also is viewed as a potential replacement for Colbert when he retires if the franchise looks to internal options.
Oh, captain
For the second week in a row, the Browns sent out Garrett as their pregame captain. In the regular-season finale, with the Browns potentially needing a win to reach the playoffs for the first time in 18 years, Garrett asked to have that pregame responsibility.
Unlike last week, the Steelers sent out Roethlisberger opposite Garrett for the coin toss. Cleveland won the toss and deferred.
Acting coach
With coach Kevin Stefanski out with COVID-19, the Browns turned to special teams coordinator Mike Priefer as game-day head coach.
Priefer is a Cleveland native, but he does have some connections to football in Pittsburgh — Pitt football, that is.
Priefer was on the defensive staff at Northern Illinois in 2000 and 2001, when he coached and became close friends with Pitt football head coach Pat Narduzzi. Two years ago, Narduzzi even hired Priefer’s son, Michael Priefer, as a defensive graduate assistant.