Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Expert Pick – December 8, 2024
In a rematch between two bitter AFC North rivals, the Cleveland Browns (3-9) travel to face the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) looking to sweep their division foes for the first time since the Ronald Reagan era. Read more Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers expert pick.
Hard Knocks
The Steelers are coming off an impressive 44-38 victory of the Cincinnati Bengals where the offense amassed over 500 yards in production. They were motivated after suffering an embarrassing 24-19 loss to the Browns in week 12 on Thursday night football. There is no added motivation needed for the game today as the Steelers look to avenge the loss from a couple weeks ago.
“I’m not going to pretend like we’re interested in get-back, because we’re not, to be quite honest with you, said Coach Mike Tomlin. “We’re building this group to have a certain mentality that what we do or what we don’t do determines what happens in stadiums.”
After the Browns game the Steelers play an unbelievably tough stretch of football as they face the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, and Baltimore Ravens over an 11-day period which could make or break their season. With a narrow one game lead in the AFC North this is as close to a must-win game from a late season division leader as we’ll ever witness. This scheduling “quirk” has been on the minds of the Steelers top brass since last May.
“It’s probably not exactly how I would have drawn it up, but we’ve got to do the best we can,” says Steelers president Art Rooney II. “A lot of the division games are at the end of the schedule, so it will be an interesting stretch there toward the end.”
Coincidence?
In what the league describes as just a coincidence, the Steelers didn’t have their first divisional game until Week 11 – which is convenient considering the AFC North is featured in the current Hard Knocks show on HBO MAX. It would be hard to imagine the team “sleeping” on the Browns today with so much on the line.
Cleveland is coming off a 41-32 defeat to the Denver Broncos which essentially ended any hopes for a playoff run. Jameis Winston returned to normal form as he threw for 495 yards, four touchdowns, and three interceptions. He understands that to have any chance at beating the Steelers he must limit the turnovers as he did in week 12.
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Kickoff
When: Sunday, December 8th at 1:00 PM ET
Where: Acrisure Stadium – Pittsburgh, PA
TV: CBS
The Odds
Matchup |
Open |
Spread |
Total |
Moneyline |
Cleveland Browns(3-9 SU, 4-8 ATS) |
-7.0 |
+6.5 |
O43.5 |
+230 |
Pittsburgh Steelers(9-3 SU, 9-3 ATS) |
O/U 44.5 |
-6.5 |
U43.5 |
-285 |
Smack Talk
The feud between edge rushers T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett is well documented with the reigning DPOY upset that Watt didn’t give him his flowers (as the kids would say). In the first matchup Garrett was a disruptive force with three sacks and three tackles for loss while Watt failed to register a sack. It appears individual accomplishments are not the focus for T.J. this year.
“I’m worried about the Pittsburgh Steelers being the best team at the best time,” Watt said during Friday’s media availability. “It’s all about the Pittsburgh Steelers and winning as many games as we can in the right moments.”
The return of edge rusher Alex Highsmith should help the cause as he will alleviate some of the pressure put on Watt. He will enter a rotation that includes Nick Herbig who is the fifth highest -graded edge rusher the past three weeks with 12 pressures, two sacks, six run stops, and three forced fumbles.
The real trash talking is happening between receiver George Pickens and Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II who were in a brawl following the Steelers’ week 12 loss. Newsome has continued his smack talk with Pickens offering the not-so-subtle jab stating, “I don’t know who that is.” This should be interesting.
The Pick
After watching Tomlin on Hard Knocks there is no chance that they will take this game lightly. This team knows what the stakes are, and they were just embarrassed by the Browns on national TV two weeks ago. While it would be nice to have the classic three turnover game from Winston, they shouldn’t need it to beat this team.
The Steelers’ offense is humming with Russell Wilson leading the way and I would expect this to continue against a beleaguered Browns team. The Steelers defense will come up big today with multiple sacks and pressures leading to a blowout win for the Steelers.
