It’s another divisional matchup in the Week 3 edition of Thursday Night Football when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Cleveland Browns in an AFC North clash. Considering how the season has gone so far it’s safe to say we could expect a close game.
The teams lost for the first time on Sunday by a combined four points, but it might be tough for the Browns to overcome their late meltdown in a 31-30 setback to the Jets. If any team can blow a 13-point lead with less than two minutes remaining in regulation Cleveland is it. The Browns have a short time to regroup with Jacoby Brissett nursing an ankle injury. Despite that, the Browns hit the board as a 3.5-point home favorite.
Steelers vs Browns Date & Time
The Week 3 Thursday Night Football contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns will take place at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, OH at 8:15 p.m. ET on September 22, 2022 and will be shown on Prime Video.
Steelers vs Browns Odds
Pittsburgh Steelers +3.5
Cleveland Browns -3.5
Over/Under 40
Odds Analysis
In a series that’s been dominated by Pittsburgh, the Browns are a rare favorite on the opening line for this matchup laying 3.5 points. Since the 2015 season the Steelers are 11-2-1 in regular season meetings while going 5-0 ATS in the last five matchups. That run was interrupted by Cleveland’s 48-37 playoff upset during the 2020 season, though. All that damage came with Ben Roethlisberger at the helm and the Steelers have had struggles offensively early on. They’re averaging 18.5 points and have cashed the UNDER in their first two games. The opening total of 40 is the smallest in the last 10 meetings. The UNDER is 5-2 in the last seven matchups.
Pittsburgh Steelers
It probably won’t be long before we see Kenny Picket behind center. A defensive score in the opener helped the Steelers put up 23 points in a win over the Bengals despite Mitchell Trubisky throwing for fewer than 200 yards and the offense managing just 267 yards. It was another struggle on Sunday with Trubisky going 21 of 33 for 168 yards, three sacks and a pick. The Steelers managed just 243 total yards in the 17-14 loss to New England. “We can be better at everything. Bottom line, we’ve got to score more points,” Trubisky said.
Playing without injured T.J. Watt, the Steelers failed to record a sack of Mac Jones and yielded 376 total yards yet they played well enough on that side of the ball to win. With the offense having a tough time scoring points that puts more pressure on the defense to play a near perfect game. And everyone else needs to help out as well. A muffed punt gave the Pats a short field and they capitalized with what was the eventual game-winning touchdown. The Steelers snapped a three-game winless skid in Cleveland last year, but this is a different club in need of a spark.
Cleveland Browns
Stuff happens in the NFL, but we rarely see what happened to the Browns on Sunday. According to research it had been two decades since a team overcame a deficit of at least 13 points in the final two minutes to win, but leave it to Cleveland to cough up a double-digit lead. A second straight win looked to be in the bag after Nick Chubb’s third rushing touchdown of the game with 1:55 left in the fourth staked Cleveland to a 30-17 advantage. The missed PAT seemed irrelevant at the time. A breakdown in the secondary and failure to recover an onside kick allowed the Jets to score twice with a pair of extra points proving decisive. The question now is how do the Browns respond?
There were concerns about the offense entering the season with Deshaun Watson serving a suspension. Jacoby Brissett started a number of games in the past and was handed the reins in the interim looking strong in the early going. Brissett was 22 of 27 for 229 yards and a touchdown on Sunday as the Browns amassed 405 yards and converted two-thirds of their third-downs. He’s benefitted from a ground game that averages 200 yards. The Browns have scored 56 points in two games with the OVER 2-0.
Steelers vs Browns Predictions
The AFC North is going to be a dogfight all season and games within the division should be scrappy. These clubs are making things tough on themselves with the Steelers looking for consistent offense and the Browns’ special teams needing to clean things up. Cleveland’s ability to effectively run the football has me looking at the UNDER and close games are something the teams are accustomed to so backing the points is the smart move.
Prediction: Pittsburgh Steelers +3.5 / UNDER 40
