Feats of Strength: Supreme pass rush, minimizing Myles Garrett spark Steelers' beatdown of Browns

Coming off a bye at 3-1 in a parity-crippled NFL, the Steelers were in a great spot entering Sunday’s game.

It got even better when the opponent came on the field because that opponent was the Cleveland Browns.

For all the talk this week that Cleveland may actually be Pittsburgh’s toughest foe in what has fast become a wounded AFC North, the Browns looked every bit like the 1-4 team their record suggested they were coming into the contest.

And the Steelers are starting to look more and more like a team that has earned its way to a first-place line in its division, and not just one that is getting gifts from lesser competition as they did from New York, New England and, at times, Minnesota.

Let’s recap how the Steelers improved to 4-1 in this week’s “Feats of Strength” and “Airing of Grievances” as Festivus came early in the form of a 23-9 victory over the visitors from Northeast Ohio.

Feats of strength

Getting chunky: Unless it was big catch-and-run results from DK Metcalf (two in New York, one in Ireland), the Steelers haven’t had a lot of big chunk plays.

But they hit two in the first half. Tight end Darnell Washington slipped free on the first snap of the game, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers found him for a 36-yard gain.

Darnell Washington gets a big gain to start it off for Pittsburgh

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On the second drive, Rodgers hit Metcalf for a beautiful 25-yard strike down the sideline.

Rodgers & Metcalf in sync ????

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Unfortunately, the first drive stalled and just resulted in a field goal. The second drive bogged down, and Corliss Waitman ended up punting.

The Steelers finally paid off a big play in the end zone when Rodgers connected with Metcalf in the fourth quarter for a score from 25 yards out.

Rodgers to DK for a touchdown!

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“When (Rodgers) is in the gun, throwing the football, I always think I have a chance. Especially with the way our o-line is playing. They are giving him time back there to find a guy downfield,” Metcalf said.

On the day, Metcalf ended up with 95 yards on nine targets and four receptions.

Keeping it tight: The Steelers did a better job on the Cleveland tight ends than the box score suggested — and the Browns definitely like to use them.

Harold Fannin Jr. led the team with 21 catches coming into the game, and David Njoku was next with 20. They had 378 yards between them over the first five weeks.

Through the middle of the third quarter, they combined for just four catches and 29 yards. A couple of brutal third-quarter drops from those two didn’t exactly help Cleveland’s cause.

Fannin got some empty calories in garbage time, ending up with 81 yards and seven catches. But Njoku left the game with only three catches and 28 yards.

On the other sideline, the Steelers’ four tight ends combined for eight catches, 103 yards and a touchdown from Connor Heyward.

Welcome to ‘tahn!’: After making his NFL debut in England last week against Minnesota, Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel made his first true road start at Acrisure Stadium.

The Steelers’ defense overwhelmed him.

Gabriel was sacked six times. He was hit a total of 16 times. Jalen Ramsey and Nick Herbig had two apiece.

Jalen Ramsey sacks Gabriel!

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T.J. Watt had half a sack and batted down two passes.

It could’ve been worse. Juan Thornhill, Herbig and Joey Porter Jr. all nearly had interceptions.

On Tuesday, head coach Mike Tomlin said Gabriel’s ability to process opposing defenses was “his super power.” Yet Tomlin’s defense made the rookie look like Clark Kent most of the day.

“They did a nice job with their pre-snap disguise,” Tomlin said of his defensive players. “They didn’t allow him to digest information prior to getting the ball in his hands. That’s the first component of slowing down the processing.”

Gabriel finished 29 of 52 for 168 yards, no touchdowns, a 66.3 rating and a 4.3 average yards per pass attempt. He also lost both starting tackles—Jack Conklin and Cam Robinson—in the second half.

Goin’ nowhere: The Browns’ defense came in with an NFL-best 75.6 yards-per-game average against the run.

But it was the Steelers’ defense that was more dominant on the ground. Teryl Austin’s unit held the Browns to just 65 yards rushing on 17 carries for an average of 3.8 yards per carry.

Cleveland’s inability to get much going on the ground resulted in a lot of third downs. The Steelers thwarted Cleveland 11 times on 17 third-down tries.

The Browns had to punt four times. Three drives withered and necessitated field goal attempts, and they lost possession on downs twice.

Tomlin’s defense managed to hold Cleveland to just 3.3 yards per play. Normally turnover-reliant, the Steelers also kept the Browns out of the end zone all day without the benefit of a giveaway from the Browns.

Keeping him in check: For all the concerns about how Broderick Jones and the rest of the Steelers’ offensive line would handle Myles Garrett, the former NFL defensive player of the year accounted for just two tackles, none solo, none for a loss and no sacks.

The line also paved the way for an average of 6.1 yards per play and kept Rodgers upright without a sack all day.

“I thought we did a good job with the tight ends, a variation of body types, and running backs out there trying to chip (Garrett), just to kind of slow him down,” Rodgers said. “But when Jones had singles, I’ve got to look at the film, but it seemed like he played pretty well.”

As far as the run blocking goes (erasing three kneel-downs before the game ended) the rush attack averaged 4.0 yards per carry.

That total could be better. However, if the team had stayed on the ground a little more on at least one drive, that number may have been different.

We’ll get to that in a little bit.

Eh, actually, let’s get to that right now.

Airing of grievances

Stall ball: The Steelers had four first-half drives. All of them had potential. All of them stalled and ended without touchdowns. Chris Boswell turned three of them into field goals, and the other one resulted in a punt.

The first two drives featured the Washington and Metcalf receptions that ended up failing to amount to much. The third drive, which bridged the quarters, was particularly frustrating.

It started with two good runs from Kaleb Johnson for a total of 12 yards. Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell then combined for four runs and 27 yards to the Cleveland 32-yard line.

But then the Steelers threw three straight passes — an incompletion to Washington, and two to Metcalf. That halted the drive, and Boswell had to kick a field goal.

For the half, it was a total of 32 plays, 166 yards and 17:28 of possession time, but just nine points.

Those aren’t Terrible Towels: There were too many yellow flags on the field — and in costly situations.

By the end of the day, the Steelers were hit with 10 accepted penalties for 59 yards.

Jabrill Peppers absorbed two penalties for 40 yards. Watt was guilty of lining up in the neutral zone twice.

One of those flags against Watt negated a strip-sack fumble that he created in the third quarter. Peppers’ first penalty — which was a sketchy call — washed out a 47-yard punt return from Ke’Shawn Williams.

Who is No. 2?: The Steelers’ glaring need for a No. 2 wide receiver continues to be an issue.

The second-best option at the position after Metcalf is Calvin Austin. He was injured and unable to play.

The four other receivers who did suit up — Williams, Scotty Miller, Ben Skowronek and Roman Wilson — totaled just one catch for 12 yards. It came from Wilson in the third quarter.

Another gripe was about the field. Rodgers referred to it as “borderline unplayable” prior to Boswell’s late missed field goal. He said it wasn’t bad before the game, but said it deteriorated significantly as the afternoon progressed.