The Russ Show

Here’s a riddle. What had wings and can throw a football exceptionally well? Russell Wilson. The Pittsburgh addition, acquired through the Seahawks, (get it, wings?), is proving every single doubter wrong. Including myself. I’m man enough to admit I was a Russell Wilson doubter after last season, even though last year he threw for 3k yards and 26 TDs. I must’ve missed that under all the mediocrity in Denver last year. Let’s not get sidetracked though, Russell Wilson was the perfect add to the Steelers, who had been lacking a QB for a while and are showing teams that along with their more than formidable defense, they are a team to not be trifled with. (Might I add, to bench Justin Fields after his success for even better success, is insane foresight and a little bit of luck.) The Steelers, winning 6/7 games, (losing to the Browns too), have been on a roll. They know how to win football games, simple as that. Good teams do that, and the Steelers are a good team. Mike Tomlin and his team will look to impose their will early on the Browns, who have shown they can be trifled with. Losing Deshaun Watson to injury didn’t help. Well, it kind of did, as Jameis Winston came in and beat the Ravens the following week, and then they just beat the Steelers two weeks ago. Here’s what I know; the Browns are usually not going to be favorited in games, their offense is statistically not good, which is only followed by their defense, that is surprisingly worse considering the Browns anchor around their defense. What they do have is an energy with Winston they did not have with Watson. Do I think that will pay dividends this week against a tough division rival? No, but look for the Browns to surprise some teams down the line. Good luck to them this week though.

POSTGAME:

The Browns certainly did themselves no favors this week, as they fell in a close game due to their own comedy of errors. After starting on their own 21-yard line, the Browns were able to drive down the field and score. Jameis Winston found David Njoku for a 15-yard score and the lead was cut from 20 to 13. Then, they recover a fumble on a mis-timed snap and get the ball back down 13 with almost 5 minutes left in the game. But two plays into the drive, Jameis Winston tries to place a deep ball but overthrows it into the arms of Steelers defender James Pierre, and that’s the game. They would’ve needed another score after this drive, if they were even able to score, but the trend of Jameis Winston getting picked off continues. Big moments or small, this guy always seems to turn the ball over. I know he’s a glue guy, but he needs to take more care with the ball if the Browns hope to win some games before the season ends.