Browns: 3 keys to victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers

Get to Ben Roethlisberger

This is pretty obvious but it should be stated anyway; Ben Roethlisberger is the key to the Pittsburgh Steelers offense. He’s the only real playmaker they have and the team goes as far as he does. If the Browns have any chance of slowing down the Steelers massacre of their secondary, the only play is to go after Roethlisberger with every inch of effort they have.

Myles Garrett should be able to get some disruption going, that’s a given. Where else is the pressure going to come from? Not the linebacking corp, they can barely tie their shoes let alone actually blitz. Olivier Vernon has gotten depth at times but hasn’t actually disrupted anything just yet. Still, he’s playing as well as Jadeveon Clowney is, so at least there’s that. Sheldon Richardson has done some great work from time to time but hasn’t been anywhere near Garrett’s level of productivity.

Despite averaging nearly 40% of defensive snaps across three games, Jordan Elliot has yet to do anything worth of value. Larry Ogunjobi might be efficient if he were healthy. The Browns really could use another great pass rusher but until that day comes, the Browns are going to have to manufacture some type of pressure besides Garrett, especially with so many players on defense being banged up and their status for Sunday not being sure.