Pass the No-Doz please

The Browns will face the best quarterback in the AFC North Division next Sunday when they wrap up the extremely disappointing 2021 season against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Hold on. Don't they play the Steelers in Pittsburgh on national television Monday night? You know the game Ben Roethlisberger says "might be" his final game in front of the home folks. What about that one?

Well it might be the final appearance at home for the Ohio native as the future Pro Football Hall of Famer winds down his brilliant 18-year career. Other than that, it will a totally meaningless game for both teams. 

Neither the 7-8 Browns nor the 7-7-1 Steelers have a chance to win anything except maybe second place in the division. That title dream went poof Sunday afternoon. The Bengals rendered that possibility moot with a come-from-behind, last-second 34-31 victory over Kansas City to wrap up the division title.

To remain alive, the underachieving Browns needed a Baltimore loss to the Los Angeles Rams, which they got, And for the Chiefs to stretch their winning streak to nine straight games in Cincinnati, which they didn't. That and a Cleveland victory in Pittsburgh would have set up a Browns-Bengals battle for the division title next Sunday. Woulda . . . coulda . . . didn't.

That's because Joe Burrow, the aforementioned best young quarterback in the division (and it's not even close) authored yet another masterful performance that strongly suggested he is rapidly establishing himself as one of the best young quarterbacks in the entire National Football League.

In his last two games, Burrow has completed 67 of 85 passes (79%) for an incredible 971 yards, eight touchdowns with no interceptions. Two games! To put some perspective to that, Baker Mayfield of the Browns has completed 87 of 155 passes (56%) for 902 yards, seven touchdowns and eight picks in his last five outings. Five! FIVE!! FIVE!!!!

Burrow, another native of the Buckeye state, shredded the Chiefs all afternoon in the offensive slugfest with Patrick Mahomes II of the Chiefs as he and rookie wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase played pitch and catch that spawned three of Burrow's four TD passes.

It appears as though he has no competition in the the foreseeable future identifying the best QB in the division. Roethlisberger is ancient and perceptibly slowing down, while Baltimore's Lamar Jackson can't stay healthy.

Then there's Mayfield, nearing the finish line in not even arguably the worst season in his four-year career with the Browns. It has been a relative nightmare for the Texan who has played a vast majority of this season with major injuries. 

And now that the last two games have been reduced to meaningless status, now might be a good time for the Browns to shut Mayfield down and get him to surgery, giving him that much more time to get healthy again and ready for the 2022 season. 

Going into Pittsburgh and knocking off Roethlisberger in his final game there for the second straight year would be delicious irony under ordinary circumstances. But that is no longer the case.

Sure it would've been nice to beat the Browns' slayer one final time after all these torturous years. But somehow losing the opportunity to play in the postseason for the second straight season overrides it. It makes Kevin Stefanski's job in Pittsburgh and the following week at home in the season finale against Burrow and his buddies that much tougher.

The Browns walloped the Bengals, 41-16, way back in week nine, the only game this season Burrow hasn't thrown a touchdown pass. Since then, the Bengals are 5-2; the Browns are 2-4. 

The Steelers, meanwhile, have never experienced a losing season under head coach Mike Tomlin since 2007. Pride plus Big Ben's "might be" finale in Pittsburgh will serve as their motivations. A victory assures that streak continues.

Like the Browns, the Steelers win with defense these days because the respective offenses are, at the very least, partially broken. The Steelers have scored more than 20 points only once in the last five games. The Cleveland offense has scored as many as 24 points in a game just once in that span. 

For the first time in the COVID19-ravaged season, the Browns are relatively healthy on both sides of the football, although safeties Ronnie Harrison Jr. and John Johnson III and slot corner Troy Hill have been ruled out. The return of center JC Tretter and left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr, almost reunites the starting offensive line. Only tackle Jack Conklin (injured reserve) is missing.

Originally, I was giving serious consideration to picking the Browns, a surprising 3.5-point favorite, to win a low-scoring game. No longer is that the case. Now that the postseason is just a dream that won't  come true for Cleveland, the Steelers have much more motivation in this one. 

Roethlisberger, 25-3-1 in his Browns-tormenting career, limps into retirement on a good note. The Steelers, who somehow managed to defeat the Browns, 15-10, in week eight in one of their five should-have-won-but-didn't losses this season, do it again, handing the Browns their third straight loss and fourth in their last five game in a yawner. Make it:

Steelers 17, Browns 16