Greetings Steeler Nation. Sorry we haven't had much for you to peruse following the Steelers 35-7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon. More soon from me about what's new in the 'real' world for me, but thankfully there will always be time in the day to talk Steelers, so we'll get back to breaking down Week 13 action soon enough.
A quick note about the Steelers Week 14 game against the Cleveland Browns. Pittsburgh will play for the second time in four days this coming Thursday night when they make their first and only Thursday Night Football appearance. Hopefully they'll take care of business and then enjoy another mini-bye week before heading down the home stretch in the lead up to this year's playoffs.
To keep his team fresh for Thursday night, Mike Tomlin gave his team the day off on Monday. The Steelers did not practice today, perhaps for health and rest purposes, or perhaps because Tomlin wanted his team to be mentally sharp starting Tuesday so as not to fall prey to an emotional or mental trap against a Browns team that's vastly overmatched on paper.
The Browns did however practice on Monday, though it was only a walk-through. The NFL's communications arm estimated what their practice and injury report would have been were there had been a normal practice. Here 'tis:
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Practice Report |
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DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE |
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Monday |
LB Quinton Spears (hamstring), S T.J. Ward (foot) |
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LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE |
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Monday |
S Mike Adams (shoulder), RB Peyton Hillis (hip), T Tony Pashos (ankle) |
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FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE |
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Monday |
LB Chris Gocong (hip), RB Montario Hardesty (calf), QB Colt McCoy (knee), DE Jayme Mitchell (ankle) |
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We'll see if McCoy is able to play after being forced to the sidelines briefly during their loss to the Ravens on Sunday. It's not like McCoy has been tearing up the league this year, but I do think his short and medium range passing tendencies might actually be mildly successful against the Steelers defense. Sustaining that for an entire 60 minutes is another question, but I would be surprised if the Browns don't at least piece together two or three field goal drives at minimum. Really though Joshua Cribbs will have to make a play or two in the return game, and the Bronws offense is going to need to have field position gift wrapped by Steelers turnovers. Without either or both of those developments, it's hard to see any way that Cleveland hangs at Heinz Field on Thursday night.
Back to the Bengals game for now, but we'll turn our attention to the Steelers and Browns matchup again on Wednesday.