Browns: Steelers match-up hardest yet due to mounting injuries

If the Cleveland Browns were to face the Pittsburgh Steelers at full strength, it’s hard to argue they aren’t the favorite but that’s not the case here.

The mounting injuries to the Browns are a reason to worry. Greedy Williams is possibly done for the year with a nerve issue, Nick Chubb remains out of action for a few more weeks, Karl Joseph and Larry Ogunjobi may not be ready to come back this week either. That doesn’t even mention Olivier Vernon dealing with more nagging injuries that saw him leave the Week 5 game against the Colts, Jacob Phillips again being injured after the Colts game, Ronnie Harrison’s concussion or the big blow of Wyatt Teller possibly being weekt-to-week with a severe hamstring pull.

Oh, and Baker Mayfield probably has some bruised ribs after Justin Houston blew past Jedrick Wills and laid out Mayfield with just seven minutes left in the 4th quarter. The injuries are mounting.

The worst part is, guys like Ogunjobi, Wyatt, Chubb, and Harrison have really been difference makers. Joseph was a bad get, and Phillips hasn’t shown he’s able to change anything about this Browns defense so their losses aren’t that important. You’d hope that Williams would be ready to return at some point but with him having a nerve issue, his long-term prognosis is not good.

The Steelers aren’t a great team. Ju-Ju Smith Schuster isn’t the Antonio Brown replacement he was hyped up to be, nor is James Conner a great replacement for Le’Veon Bell. Their defense is also extremely overrated considering the teams they played. More on this in another column.

If the Browns were healthy, it’d be an obvious “pick Cleveland to win big” type of prediction. The Browns aren’t healthy. Their offense, especially its corp components are banged up. This is going to be the toughest matchup yet and it has little to do with how good the Steelers are and more about how banged up the Browns are.