Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: 5 matchups that will decide Week 1

Collins, Peppers vs. McDonald, James

Stopping tight ends from catching the football has been a problem for the Cleveland Browns, and it doesn’t matter who’s throwing the football.

Now consider its Ben Roethlisberger standing in the pocket slinging the ball, and a Steeler tight ends become a whole heck-of-a-lot more dangerous.

Look no further than Week 1 from the 2017 campaign.

Unknown Jesse James caught six passes for 41 yards, but that included two touchdown grabs. He had three touchdowns all year!

James will be back this year and he may be seeing a lot of playing time with Vance McDonald listed as limited on the injury report.

No matter whom the Steelers play at the position, it must be an area of concern for the Browns, and in particularly linebacker Jamie Collins and strong safety Jabrill Peppers.

Collins is the starting strong-side linebacker, and the best of the Browns’ starting trio in pass coverage. An injury that limited him to seven games last season has kept the former Patriot from living up too is big contract.

With that said, Collins was on the field last year when James balled out.

Peppers should help with tight ends because of his move to strong safety. Never say never, but Greg Williams probably won’t play him 30 yards behind the line of scrimmage, meaning the former Michigan standout will be in position to make some plays.

Peppers played linebacker in college and could be the perfect remedy to stopping mismatches other teams might try to exploit at tight end.