Tim Benz: Steelers-Browns ‘familiar-unfamiliarity’ for Round 3 — again
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For the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns, this 2002 flashback thing is a lot more familiar than maybe we realized.
By roughly 11:30 p.m. Sunday night, Steelers fans are going to be hoping that the last chapter winds up the same.
If it does, expect a few heart palpitations along the way.
As for Chapter 2? Eh, that didn’t go so well.
A lot of internet space and airtime in Pittsburgh this week has been dedicated to memories of that memorable 2002 wild-card weekend game between the franchises in Pittsburgh.
After beating Cleveland twice in the regular season that year, the Steelers won that postseason game, too, by a final of 36-33. They had trailed 24-7. But the Tommy Maddox-led Steelers stormed back. It was the last time the Browns made the playoffs. And, by extension, the last time the teams played each other three times in a season.
It happened once before in 1994. The Steelers swept all three of those contests that year, too.
You’ve probably relived every aspect of that game a million times this week. Maddox’s comeback. Kendrell Bell’s impactful performance. Dennis Northcutt’s drop. Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala’s game-winning touchdown.
Maybe this game will be just as exciting.
Where I find an interesting analogy is in how the regular-season games played out. Like this season, those 2002 matchups saw some fairly different teams and approaches. Thus, probably making prep for the Round 3 affair difficult.
Game 1 of the rivalry was in Week 4 at Heinz Field. The Steelers had been humbled by the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders over the first two weeks by a combined score of 60-31.
The Steelers started the game still trying to make their struggling offense work with running back Jerome Bettis and quarterback Kordell Stewart but ended up benching Stewart for Maddox in the fourth quarter. And they hadn’t quite committed to Amos Zereoue as the top running back for the year yet.
The Browns beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2 by a 20-7 final score, after blowing an infamous 40-39 shootout in the opener to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Remember the Dwayne Rudd “helmet toss” game?
Yeah, Myles Garrett wasn’t the first guy to taint a Browns game by doing something with his headgear.
And while the Steelers were on a Week 3 bye, the Browns got quarterback Tim Couch back in the lineup during a 31-28 win over the Tennessee Titans. That was after Kelly Holcomb had performed well (44 of 69/524 yards/5 TDs/0 INTs) in the first two contests.
Neither game featured Bell, the reigning AFC defensive rookie of the year. He battled injuries all season, missing Game 1 of the divisional rivalry and only getting one tackle in Game 2.
Bell then managed eight solo tackles — two for loss — and deflected a pass during the playoff victory.
That second regular-season game also featured a ball-control ground attack with Zereoue’s 111 yards rushing and Bill Cowher’s team holding the ball for 42 minutes. The Steelers won 23-20.
Suddenly, for the playoff game, Holcomb was back at the helm for Cleveland after Couch broke his leg in Week 17. Next thing you know, Holcomb is throwing for 429 yards and three touchdowns for the Browns in nearly stealing that playoff win at Heinz Field.
So there really wasn’t a clean read in advance of how that game would eventually play out. And that tone of “familiar unfamiliarity” in 2002-03 exists again in 2020-21. Despite playing each other twice already, can either team really claim to have a true vibe for the other?
In the Browns’ first game against the Steelers — a 38-7 Pittsburgh win — they did have Odell Beckham Jr. at wide receiver. But they didn’t have Nick Chubb at running back or Wyatt Teller at guard. That flip-flopped in Game 2, a 24-22 Cleveland victory.
But now the team’s other guard, Joel Bitonio, is going to be out of the playoff game because of a positive coronavirus test. So is safety Ronnie Harrison. Other members of the secondary such as Denzel Ward, Kevin Johnson and Andrew Sendejo missed the Week 17 fray. And Steelers backup quarterback Mason Rudolph took advantage.
Not to mention head coach Kevin Stefanski and some other members of the coaching staff will be barred from participating in Sunday’s game because of covid-19 restrictions.
Sendejo and linebacker B.J. Goodson should be back. But the others are question marks. So how is Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin preparing for what could be a third version of the Browns roster for Sunday?
“I’m comfortable with the matchups and the components of (the third game),” Tomlin said. “Regardless of who is available to us and who is available to them, it’s just a level of familiarity. But I don’t view it as a winning edge. I’m sure they are comfortable with the matchups as well.”
Well, maybe Cleveland shouldn’t be. Because the Steelers lineup also has been herky-jerky between the first two games. If a jumbled Browns secondary could yield 315 yards to Mason Rudolph, what would it give up to Ben Roethlisberger?
Meanwhile, the Steelers will be absent Bud Dupree, Joe Haden and Devin Bush — who all started the first game of the year between the clubs — but they’ll be getting back Maurkice Pouncey, Cameron Heyward, Eric Ebron and T.J. Watt.
They all missed Week 17 in Ohio. As did linebacker Robert Spillane and guard Matt Feiler. Both of those players could suit up, too.
“What you are ultimately trying to do is play to your players’ strengths and what your players do well,” Stefanski said. “We have a handle on how we are going to play this game, who we are going to have to play this game. I think it helps that we have some commonality having just played them.”
For both sides, though, who “them” is may be very much in question as the covid-19 log and the injury report continue to evolve throughout the week.
Steelers fans can only hope what was past is prologue from 2002 when looking at the final result.