Oct
14
Written by:
LarryMac
10/14/2008 3:58 PM
Two storied rivals met up with one (the Cleveland Browns) looking to bounce back from a demoralizing loss and the other (the Pittsburgh Steelers) looking to prove wrong all of the nay sayers who counted them out this season and build upon an impressive win over the Houston Texans in week 1. The Browns would also be looking to get a pretty big monkey off their backs, as the Steelers came into the game winners of the last nine contests between the two. Hurrican Ike conspired to make it a memorable game, blacking out much of the Cleveland area and bringing howling winds gusting off of Lake Erie up to 60mph to Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Perhaps most surprising about this game is the fact that the teams did not abandon the pass. In fact, the Browns game plan relied heavily upon it as Derek Anderson would pass for 166 yards while the team would rush for only 53. Ben Roethlisberger would pass for even more in a sloppy, low-scoring affair.
The Browns continued Week 1's trend of shooting themselves in the foot, accumulating more penalty yards as a team than rushing yards, Braylon Edwards would drop a couple more passes and the team would scramble around aimlessly at the end of the first half and ruin a shot at a field goal with time running out, as nobody seemed to know what play they were running or who was supposed to be on the field. The defense looked better, but the Pittsburgh offense isn't exactly heralded and the weather was almost certainly a factor in both team's low scores. Ultimately, this was a game to forget...or try to at any rate.
Adding insult to injury, or vice versa as the case may be, the Browns lost DE Robaire Smith for the season. Carted off the field with an ankle injury, it would later be determined that he had ruptured his left Achilles tendon - he would be placed on the IR two days later.
After another disappointing loss, albeit competitive this time, the Browns look to rebound against another divisional foe in the Baltimore Ravens, who were grounded this week due to Hurricane Ike.
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