Not a chance

By Magoo
On Saturday the Pittsburgh Steelers will take their playoff hopes on the road to face their AFC North rival the Cleveland Browns. This game features two teams playing for very different reasons.

For the Browns this is their Super Bowl. A win would indicate their rebuilding process is heading in the right direction. A loss for the Browns would mean their record would fall to 5-10 and maybe, if the Baltimore Ravens win against the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday, they could be in a match up that will be played for the basement of the division.  

For the Steelers a loss would have so many negative connotations that listing them all here would take days. The most important one, however, would be that they most likely would not make it into the playoffs this season. More importantly, it would indicate they would not deserve to be there.

I for one do not think the Browns have what it takes to send the Steelers deep into the land of mediocrity. A look at the last time the Steelers and Browns played reveals just what a true mis-match this game should be. On November 13, at Heinz Field the Steelers played the game without their starting quarterback, starting running back and their All Pro inside linebacker. Despite all this, the game was never in question.

This game the Steelers will be healthy at all positions for the first time in quite some time. That does not bode well for a Brown victory either. Two other personnel changes for the Browns also point to a long day for the Browns. Jeff Faine, the Brown starting center, has been placed on the Injured reserve list and will be replaced by back-up Mike Pucillo. The other change will be at the quarterback position. Rookie Charlie Frye, the Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week last week, will be under center.

Last week Frye completed 21 of 32 passes for 198 yards as the Browns’ prevailed over the 4-10 Oakland Raiders by the score of 9-7. With the Browns trailing 7-6, Frye you see, engineered a 12-play drive that traveled a whopping 43 yards, and set up a game winning field goal as time expired. Another interesting fact about last week's Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week is that he had zero TDs and one interception. It says here that Fyre will need to improve on those numbers if the Browns are to win. 

That could be a difficult challenge for the ex Akron Zip. Pucillo the Browns backup center will be facing a huge task in Casey Hampton the Steeler's nose tackle. Hampton against the very best in the league has little trouble disrupting opposing offenses ability to run the ball, as witnessed by the Steelers allowing only allowing 3.4 yards per carry, which is tops in the NFL. Additionally, Ruben Droughns the Browns leading rusher has not been all that effective in the past four weeks. On 88 carries he has managed only 298 yards. During that four-week span Droughns has zero Tds to his credit.

To say the least without a running game Fyre will need to perform at a high level if the Browns are to have any chance. In his 3 games since taking over he has completed 56-of-88 passes for 620 yards with 3 Tds but also 4 interceptions. Those are not the kind of numbers that would indicate that he would be up to the task.

In truth this contest will be won in trenches. The last time these teams played the Steelers ran off 24 unanswered points while running the ball 41 times and collecting 159 yards and 3 TDs on the ground. To quote the analysis given on the Browns Web Site regarding Saturday's game "If the Browns can't run the ball successfully and consistently, as well as stop the run. Expect a hard-fought game with points hard to come by.” 

I couldn’t have said it any better myself!

Zoned out