The Steelers marched into Cleveland for Sunday's season opener with a lot of unknowns hanging over their heads.  Fortunately, the Browns make for a great way to answer a lot of those questions.  

The Goods: Big Ben threw a career high, 4 TDs.  The first was a sick timing pass in the back of the end zone, the second was a deep strike down the middle to Santonio Holmes, the third and fourth were garbage TDs to TEs Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth.  Willie Parker got his 109 yards and 27 carries and Najeh Davenport look tough running the ball.  

The defense had 6 sacks, lots of pressures, 2 picks, and 3 forced fumbles.  They ran Charlie Frye out of the game early and held Jamal Lewis, Braylon Edwards, and Derek Anderson to nothing, nodda, and zip for the day.  

The Bads: Not much to complain about.  Parker managed 100 years, but the team seemed to struggle running the ball in the 1st half.  The Browns pass rush managed just one sack, but had a number of hits and pressure on Big Ben.  

The team scored 34 points, but a lot of that was due to the domination on the defensive side of the ball, coupled with Cleveland's ineptitude on special teams.  The offense looked a little uninspired at times, spectacular in spots and pretty flat in others.  That may just be a symptom of breaking in a new system and coordinator.  Or, it could be worse than that.  We'll just have to buckle up for the next few weeks and find out.

Curiosities for the day:

• Did you get a load of the Browns racking up 4 separate penalties during the first quarter bungled punt attempt?  If you're looking for a microcosm of Cleveland football, that was pretty much it.
• I only heard the announce team refer to him as "San Antonio" Holmes one time.  Not bad.
• I counted 9 Brady Quinn mentions during the broadcast, which is about 6 lower than I had anticipated.
• Carey Davis started and played a little and Dan Kreider played a little, but the Steelers lined up most of the time in a single back set.  Just like they said they would.
• Hines Ward unloaded with a crack back block, flooring a Browns DB just after the whistle on a play and drew a personal foul flag.  Dirtiest player in the league!
• First round pick Lawrence Timmons lined up as a gunner on several punts.  That's just awesome. 

I wouldn't get too excited yet, I mean, it's just the Browns.  But, let's give credit where credit is due…the Steelers came out and pounded a team that they're definitely better than, and that's not a bad thing.  Next week, the party comes home to take on Buffalo.

And don't forget, the best comment of the week wins a free Sportsocracy t-shirt.   

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns – ESPN

Steelers/Browns – NFL.com

Steelers 2007 Predictions – Sportsocracy  

 

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Tags: ben roethlisberger, carey davis, dan kreider, heath miller, hines ward, lawrence timmons, matt spaeth, najeh davenport, NFL, santonio holmes, steelers, willie parker

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