Tim Benz: What was real (and what wasn’t) from Steelers-Browns playoff appetizer

Watching Sunday’s 24-22 Steelers loss in Cleveland felt like a preseason game to me.

I spent 50% of the game yelling at the Steelers players to run more aggressively, block better and tackle harder. Then I spent the other 50% of the game yelling at them to avoid getting injured.

Quite the exercise in futility, eh?

Now, the Browns turn around and visit Heinz Field Sunday night for the first round of the AFC postseason.

I spent most of that Cleveland victory last week employing some other preseason viewing tactics. Such as trying to watch the game through the lens of what I thought was real and what was phony based on the tone of the game.

It meant little to the Steelers, as they were more or less locked into the third seed of the playoff bracket. It meant everything to the Browns as they were trying to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

The Steelers sat as many players as they could, including the likes of Ben Roethlisberger, T.J. Watt, Maurkice Pouncey and Cameron Heyward. The Browns played their starters all the way through the game.

Which was much closer than they hoped, given those circumstances.

I found the afternoon to be akin to the annual Heinz Field Rib Fest game against the Carolina Panthers, wrapping up the preseason. I jaundiced my own view of the game so as to try to watch it filtering out what I thought were results dictated by the faux nature of the gameday rosters.

Like seeing a small-school, undrafted Latrobe training camp darling at outside linebacker dominate in the fourth quarter. Is that because he’s the next James Harrison and he’ll be able to do that to Jonathan Ogden, too? Or is Carolina dressing an offensive tackle in mop-up time who will be stocking shelves at the Piggly Wiggly next week?

That’s the kind of game the Steelers were playing. On the other sideline, the Browns treated last Sunday’s contest like it was the franchise’s biggest moment since Dennis Northcutt dropped that pass at Heinz Field in the 2002 playoffs.

Probably because … it was.

So what did my brain tell me about what my eyes were watching? Well, it told me some things about what the Browns did to the Steelers were very real. And Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin better get his players ready to see them again this Sunday night.

For instance, what the Browns did to the Steelers on the ground Sunday can be replicated. Yes, even with Watt and Heyward back. Maybe not entirely recreated. But Xeroxed at least.

The Steelers didn’t face running back Nick Chubb or guard Wyatt Teller in Pittsburgh in Week 6. Cleveland lost 38-7, gaining just 75 rushing yards. On Sunday, though, Chubb had 108 and the team totaled 192.

Meanwhile, the Steelers have yielded 124.8 yards per game rushing the last six weeks. That would’ve landed them at 22nd in the league for a season-long pace.

On the other side of the ball, the Steelers were the NFL’s worst rushing team in 2020 at 84.5 yards per game. Whereas the Browns were ninth in football at 110.8 yards allowed on the ground per contest.

So the 85 they gave to Pittsburgh Sunday is consistent. That’s especially true when you consider that Steelers third-string quarterback Josh Dobbs probably won’t be on the field to gain 20 yards on two separate runs as he did against an unsuspecting Browns defense Sunday.

And if he is, they’ll be better prepared for it.

But I also saw some things that were plenty real from the Steelers. And may feel even more true to Cleveland once the teams kickoff this week.

Such as the pressure Baker Mayfield faced. He was sacked four times. That number is likely to go up with Watt and Heyward back. And with their ability to pen Mayfield in the pocket and prevent his escape alleys, don’t expect 44 yards rushing from the Browns quarterback again. He had just one attempt for five yards in Game 1 when those two were on the field.

Was Mason Rudolph’s 315 yards through the air against the Cleveland secondary “real”? By Rudolph’s standards, no. Especially with Cleveland missing Denzel Ward, Andrew Sendejo and Kevin Johnson from their secondary due to covid-19 exposure. If some or all of those guys had played, Rudolph may have thrown for more like 215 than 315.

But what about when Roethlisberger and Eric Ebron start? What would he have gotten against those backup DBs? And I know the Chase Claypool impact wasn’t fake. The Steelers rookie wide receiver has nine catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns (one rushing) in his first two games against the Browns.

Browns fans will say Myles Garrett’s meager performance was an illusion. But recent stats since his battle against covid-19 aren’t. He had three tackles and no sacks Sunday and hasn’t registered a multi-sack game since Oct. 25 in Cincinnati.

Something else that is real? History. Eighteen years of it. The Browns haven’t won in Pittsburgh since 2003. They won’t on Sunday either.

I haven’t had much faith in the fast-fading 2020 Steelers of late. But I do think they’ll beat Cleveland 27-23.

Unless I’m completely wrong about what is real and what isn’t anymore.

Based on how 2020 went, that’s a strong possibility.