It won’t be close

It wasn’t that long ago when Browns fans, deep into misery and in the midst of a four-game losing streak, pointed to the second half of the season as possible salvation with regard to the postseason.

Included in that so-called soft second half of the schedule was a pair of games with the Pittsburgh Steelers just a couple of weeks apart in November.

At the time, the Steelers experienced some misery of their own, losing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the season with an elbow injury and finishing on the wrong side of the score in four of their first five games.

These were not the Pittsburgh Steelers Browns Nation had come to know and hate. They actually looked vulnerable and Cleveland fans anxiously waited for payback time against their bitter rivals who have bedeviled them for the better part of three decades.

But while the Browns continued piling up losses until finally stealing a game from Buffalo a few days ago, the Steelers quietly rediscovered the formula that has landed them on the right side of the score in the last four games.

They are not the powerhouse offensive team with Mason Rudolph in charge of the huddle, but they don’t need to be. That’s because the defense has been spectacular.

In the last seven games, they have recorded 28 sacks, forced 12 fumbles, picked off 14 passes and registered 60 quarterback hits. In the last six outings, they created 24 takeaways and currently own a +13 turnover ratio. (The Browns are at -8.)

That’s the kind of defense the Browns will face Thursday night at home and in front of a national television audience when the Steelers invade. It is intimidating and swallows teams prone to making mistakes, i.e. the Cleveland Browns.

It can be argued, though, that the Browns have not turned the ball over in two straight games after piling up 18 in the first seven. It can also be argued Baker Mayfield is fortunate he didn’t have at least two interceptions in those games.

Since shipping their No. 1 draft choice next year to the Miami Dolphins for him after just two games, free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has been nothing short of outstanding in his first seven games as a Steeler. He has become a game changer.

He has accounted for eight turnovers – five picks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in addition to his 34 tackles (24 solo).  He makes things happen mainly because he seems to have special radar for where the football is headed. He is the kind of playmaker who can pick up an entire defense.

Fitzpatrick has scored more touchdowns (a pick six and a fumble return) this season with the Steelers than Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who is stuck on one – the 89-yard catch and run in the week two victory overt the New York Jets.

The Browns do not have anyone on the roster on defense who can lay claim to that description. They’ve got a lot of moderately talented players on that side of the ball who aren’t remotely close to being labeled a playmaker or game changer.

The biggest challenge on offense will be for coach Freddie Kitchens and offensive coordinator Todd Monken to produce a game plan with plenty of quick developing plays to offset the terrific Steelers pass rush.

At the risk of being repetitious, it is incumbent – no, make that mandatory – for the Browns’ very offensive offensive line to play its best game of the season on pass protection.

Offensive right tackle Chris Hubbard, in particular, will be in for an adventurous evening against Steelers linebacker T. J. Watt, who has 9½ of those 33 sacks and is one of the most relentless pass rushers in the National Football League.

Now that Kareem Hunt has joined Nick Chubb in the Cleveland backfield, traditional thinking suggests their mere presence back there might force the Steelers to alter their approach and be more mindful of them because both are breakaway runners.

Rudolph, who replaced Roethlisberger at quarterback, has settled in nicely, managing the game rather than trying to control it himself. He correctly relies, instead, on letting the defense dictate the tone of the games with their ultra aggressive approach.

He has thrown for 1,330 yards and 11 touchdowns with only four interceptions in his 203 throws. His main targets are wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington and rookie Diontae Johnson, running back James Conner and tight end Vance McDonald.

Rudolph managed to keep the offense on track despite the two-game absence of Conner due to shoulder issues. And wouldn’t you know it . . . he is healthy just in time for the Browns’ game.

The Cleveland defense remembers him well from last season after he helped Steelers fans forget about Le’Veon Bell, who chose to sit out the entire 2018 campaign.

Conner torched that defense for 281 yards on the ground, 123 more through the air and scored four touchdowns in a victory and tie. He touched the football 65 times in those games and totaled 404 yards.

And he is back behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL now that Ramon Foster has returned to left guard after exiting concussion protocol. That unit will try to extended Myles Garrett’s sackless streak to three games.

The struggling 3-6 Browns are surprising 2½-point favorites basically because of home field, against the surging 5-4 Steelers. What makes it surprising is not only the Browns’ record against the Steelers since the 1999 resurrection  (6-34-1),  but how poorly they have played on Thursday night over the years.

They are 3-8 overall and have lost all three games against the Steelers in the short week. But they did their last Thursday night game last season when Mayfield made his NFL debut off the bench and lea the Browns over the Jets.

That won’t happen Thursday night. Mayfield’s two-game streak of not throwing an interception ends with at least two picks. He will be sacked at least three times. And Conner runs roughshod once more against an overwhelmed Cleveland defense, ending the club’s one-game winning streak embarrassingly. Make it:

Steelers 34, Browns 13