Browns Playoffs: 3 players who need to step up against the Steelers
By Chad Porto
Any member of the Browns secondary not named Denzel Ward
The fate of Denzel Ward and whether he’ll be back on Sunday is still unknown. If he’s not back by Sunday, the entire Browns gameplan should be to “score often”, because the Browns defense won’t be able to hold up against the Steelers. That’s not to say the Steelers offense is good, it’s not, that’s more of an indictment on the defense and Andrew Berry’s inability to replace key players in the offseason, and instead settle for bargain-basement guys on one-year deals.
Assuming Ward is back, then the Browns won’t need to rely on poorly performing cornerback Robert Jackson. Jackson was only called up to the active roster due to the fact the Browns lost all of their other corners at some point in the last few weeks for one reason or another. So if Ward is back to full health, you’ll need someone, anyone else to step up alongside Ward.
Whether that’s Andrew Sendejo, Terrence Mitchell, Kevin Johnson, M.J. Stewart, or any other defensive back the Browns have to offer. One of those players will need to step up and play their tails off. Otherwise, the Browns are just going to see a repeat performance of Week 17, where the Steelers are just chucking bad passes for huge gains.