The Cleveland Browns completed the biggest road comeback in league history last week, coming back from a 28-3 hole to top the Tennessee Titans, 29-28. That alone probably extended Brian Hoyer’s stay as starting quarterback for another 3-4 weeks, while it also showed Browns fans once again that this cardiac offense has zero quit in them.
Browns fans once again think that this cardiac offense has zero quit in them. While Cleveland is oddly porous on defense and slow starting on offense, they’ve found a way to remain in every single game so far in 2014. Heading into Week 6, they’re a respectable 2-3 and get a rematch with bitter division rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The rivalry alone is good enough to have Browns tickets come in as the most expensive game in Cleveland this season on the secondary market. Browns vs Steelers tickets have an average price of $258.48 with a get-in price of $109. That makes this game 139% more expensive than the season average for Browns tickets. Factor in that the Browns stormed back from a big hole to almost win the first meeting, and fans are pretty pumped to see if they can’t finish the job at home.
Cleveland has slowly been closing the gap between them and the Steelers the past couple of years, and it’s possible they can do enough to earn a huge win in Week 6. With Pittsburgh still pretty banged up on defense, there isn’t much for Cleveland’s offense to fear this week. Pittsburgh’s pass defense is merely a middle of the road unit these days, while the Browns saw first hand in their meeting earlier this year that they can run on this Steelers team, too. While they might be able to find some success through the air, the obvious path to a win this week is for the Browns to use their three-headed rushing offense to chip away in a low-scoring affair.
Last time, the Steelers built a big lead as Hoyer and co. telegraphed their passing game and it wasn’t until the second half when the running game took over that their fortunes changed. With Ben Tate at full strength, Cleveland enters this week with a strong and willing stable of backs that could mash the Steelers into submission. Cleveland just needs to stick to the plan.
