CLEVELAND — After a week in which those throughout the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locker room steadfastly said all the right things in insisting the offense could withstand the loss of DK Metcalf, the numbers spoke for themselves Sunday.
The entire WR corps — also without No. 2 Calvin Austin III — totaled all of eight catches for 60 yards.
More telling, the offense totaled only six points. Worst of all, the Steelers lost a chance to clinch the AFC North, falling 13-6 to the Cleveland Browns.
“Obviously, a player like (Metcalf), he’s paid the way he’s paid for a reason, because he’s a difference-maker,” Steelers receiver Adam Thielen said. “He draws a lot of attention and he makes a lot of big plays, so it’s tough to not have him out there.
“But that’s not an excuse. We feel very strongly that whoever’s out here can go make those plays and carry the weight that we’re missing, but it didn’t happen today.”
The Steelers’ quintet of receivers — Thielen, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Scotty Miller, Roman Wilson and Ben Skowronek — had combined for 36 catches for 378 yards this season.
Remember, it’s Week 17.
On Sunday against the Browns’ No. 1-ranked pass defense in the NFL, the group was targeted 21 times but had just eight receptions and managed just 2.9 yards per target and 7.5 yards per reception.
“I mean, he’s one of the best players in the league,” Valdes-Scantling said of Metcalf, for whom the Steelers traded a second-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks in March. “(The Browns) are a really good defense.”
A defense that might have been much easier to attack if the Steelers had the services of Metcalf, who easily leads the Steelers in receiving yards (850) and receiving touchdowns (six).
Still, Steelers receivers maintain the team’s game plan for the passing game wasn’t dramatically altered, aside from perhaps a reliance on the running game during what were wet, sloppy and windy conditions at the lakefront Huntington Back Field.
“I didn’t think it was super different than what we had throughout (the season),” said Miller, who had three catches for 25 yards after entering the game with four catches for 28 yards on the season. “(The Browns) play a lot of man-to-man. They threw some zones at us on some third downs, but, other than that, it’s similar.
“But it’s always tough when you don’t have a freak like DK on the backside.”
Metcalf’s suspension will extend through next week’s game, the regular-season finale in which the AFC North title is on the line at home against the Baltimore Ravens. When the Steelers won in Baltimore three weeks ago, he had a game-high 148 receiving yards on seven catches.
Compounding matters against Cleveland was that the team’s starting tight end, Darnell Washington, left the game during the first quarter because of a broken forearm.
Valdes-Scantling caught three of his nine targets Sunday for 21 yards. Wilson and Skowronek combined to barely play on offense. Neither was targeted.
“It was an impact,” coach Mike Tomlin said of the absence of Metcalf, “but we certainly have capable men. And we expect those guys to make necessary plays. We certainly didn’t make enough today.”
