This space has discussed #ThursdayNightBeatdowns for more than five years! But now we have a signature moment for the moniker, and of course it was going to involve the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns.
Let me state the obvious first: Cleveland DE Myles Garrett’s actions with 8 seconds left were not defensible. You hit someone on the head with a helmet, especially in this era of heightened awareness for brain injuries, you get the book thrown at you. It’s an indefinite suspension for Garrett, so it remains to be seen when he’ll be back on the field.
Now, usually when we get the Steelers and Browns on the field together, the beatdowns are usually kept to the scoreboard. 84 percent of the time, it’s the Steelers winning. But not this past Thursday! Pittsburgh QB Mason Rudolph made his first start against the Browns, and he spent most of the game throwing to Cleveland defenders. Rudolph’s favorite Browns receiver was ILB Joe Schobert, who came down with two of Rudolph’s four INTs.
.@TheSchoGoesOn53 with his SECOND interception of the night!#PITvsCLE pic.twitter.com/Nngj2fIkLz
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) November 15, 2019
You have to go all the way back to 1987 for the last time a Steelers passer threw at least four INTs against the Browns. Ben Roethlisberger would NEVER! The sheer incompetence of Rudolph wasn’t even Pittsburgh’s biggest problem in this game! Somehow, the Steelers ran only 16 times, tied for the fewest rushes by the Steelers against the Browns since at least 1950. Those rushes seldom went anywhere, as Pittsburgh had a shoddy 3.6 yards per rush. And when Schobert wasn’t catching Rudolph lollipops, he was in the backfield, adding 1.0 sacks and two TFLs to go with 10 tackles and four passes defensed. It was Schobert’s second down sack, preceded by Cleveland DT Larry Ogunjobi’s first down sack, that set up the ill-fated 3rd and 29 where Rudolph was hit by Garrett to start all of this mess in the first place. I thought that it would be Cleveland QB Baker Mayfield that would take four sacks while throwing four INTs, but Mayfield was dropped only once on 33 dropbacks while not turning the ball over once.
Rudolph was hot garbage! If he wasn’t, he might not have been so deep in his feelings when Garrett hit him on Rudolph’s checkdown. If the Steelers were winning and Rudolph hadn’t played like a melt with mayo, there’s no way he goes at Garrett like he did. Imagine caping for this man. Imagine grabbing a defensive lineman’s helmet and igniting the conflict, then claiming zero accountability for any role in the altercations that also led to suspensions for Ogunjobi and Pittsburgh center Maurkice Pouncey.
It’s the NFL, so I’m not wasting energy on Rudolph. He should be disciplined, but it would be more satisfying to keep him out there so that he can potentially take an L against the (for now) winless Cincinnati Bengals. Then Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin can get a real professional quarterback on the field – one who threw only four INTs in the 331 passes he attempted in his last season in the NFL back in 2016. That would be satisfying.
Until then, the Browns are going to be here on the losing end of the narrative. Damn shame. But I won’t let the Steelers get away without mentioning their yellow-bellied privileged actions on #ThursdayNightBeatdowns.
TEAMS OF THE WEEK:
NE, BAL, IND, KCDAL, MIN, NO, SF
TOP PERFORMERS:
CLE run defense (ILB Joe Schobert)BAL pass offense (RB Mark Ingram II)
ATL pass offense (WR Calvin Ridley)
DAL pass offense (WR Randall Cobb)
IND run offense (RB Marlon Mack)
BUF run offense (QB Josh Allen)
MIN offensive line (QB Kirk Cousins)
NO offensive line (QB Drew Brees)
NYJ pass offense (TE Ryan Griffin)
SF pass offense (TE Ross Dwelley)
OAK pass defense (CB Trayvon Mullen)
NE pass defense (SS Terrence Brooks)
LA run defense (DE Aaron Donald)
KC pass rush (DE Frank Clark)
Looking ahead to Week 12
Open Date – Arizona, Kansas City, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota
The Cardinals enter the bye on a season-long four-game losing streak, and the pass defense hasn’t improved enough even with CB Patrick Peterson back from suspension. 1 I have seen an Andy Reid-coached Chiefs team miss the playoffs after a 7-4 start (2014), so they shouldn’t be discussed yet as a team on the level of last year’s AFC finalist. With that said, Kansas City TE Travis Kelce is having another solid year as QB Patrick Mahomes’ primary target; he’s the best receiving TE in the league. The Chargers came back from 4-8 back in 2008 to win the AFC West, and this year’s team is still outscoring their opponents this season. But that just goes to show how the Chargers make their own bad luck sometimes, and they’re likely cooked because QB Philip Rivers saved his worst for division play. 2 The last time the Vikings were 8-3, they finished 11-5 in 2015, losing a home Wild Card game. No team has allowed fewer rushing TDs than Minnesota, and DEs Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen are one of two duos in the league that already have 10+ TFL each. 3
Colts at Houston: The Colts came off their Week 6 bye to beat the Texans 30-23 at home in Week 7, a game that saw Indianapolis QB Jacoby Brissett outplay Houston QB Deshaun Watson. It’s #ThursdayNightBeatdowns, and the Colts have won 77% of these matchups all-time, not including last year’s Wild Card game in Texas. The Texans struggled to defend RBs last week, but the Colts will be adjusting to not having top RB Marlon Mack (hand) starting this week; expect to see a combination of RB Jonathan Williams and receiving back Nyheim Hines.
Panthers at New Orleans: Remember when Carolina QB Kyle Allen just won games and didn’t throw INTs? From the time Allen debuted as a starter in Week 17 of last season in New Orleans through Week 6 of this season, Allen had a 5-0 record as a starter with 9 TD passes, no INTs and a 107.5 passer rating. But since Carolina’s Week 7 bye, Allen has come back to throw only 3 TDs with 9 INTs and a 60.5 passer rating; Carolina has lost three of those four games. A more pressing issue for the Panthers on this trip to Louisiana is how well they defend New Orleans QB Drew Brees, who has avoided sacks and turnovers while winning his last four starts against the Panthers (including postseason).
Cowboys at New England: God forbid this is a Super Bowl preview. The Cowboys have never beaten the Patriots in the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era, but this is a strength vs. strength matchup when New England is defending the pass. The Cowboys did whatever they wanted in Detroit, who you may have heard is coached by a former Patriots defensive coordinator, so it will be interesting if they can duplicate that success against superior talent.
Packers at San Francisco: Few things were more enjoyable than seeing the Packers get dominated in the postseason by the San Francisco 49ers in the Jim Harbaugh era. ArE thE 49eRs fOr ReAl?! On paper, this would seem like a good time for the 49ers to get the ground game going again, as Green Bay is much better at defending the pass than the run. The Packers should also be trying to feature RB Aaron Jones, if for nothing else, to keep the San Francisco pass rush off of QB Aaron Rodgers.
Ravens at Los Angeles Rams: It’s Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson’s turn to do primetime work to bolster his MVP campaign. I have a feeling that he’ll have to do it through the air, and that’s where the Eric Weddle #RevengeGame comes into play! It’s become quite difficult to run on Aaron Donald’s team, and the Rams should just use CB Jalen Ramsey to watch the tight end. It’s going to be fascinating to see how Jackson overcomes these challenges on the road against a top-ten defense that stops the run better than the Patriots do.