Steelers Browns Spread

Written by Jack Jones

The Pittsburgh Steelers still have a lot to play for. They could earn a first-round bye if they get a few breaks to go their way. First things first, and that’s taking care of a pesky Cleveland Browns team in Week 17 on the road Sunday. Cleveland certainly won’t fold for their division rivals. They nearly upset Pittsburgh on December 8th, falling by a final of 14-3 in a game that went right down to the wire. Ben Roethlisberger found Antonio Brown on a 79-yard touchdown strike with 2:52 remaining to put the game away. The Steelers are now 13-1 against the Browns when Roethlisberger starts.

While this line is off the board at most places as oddsmakers await Ben Roethlisberger’s status, I have seen a spread of Pittsburgh -7.5 over Cleveland at one online book.

Pittsburgh

The Steelers have put themselves in position to earn the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye provided they can get some help. Pittsburgh (11-4, 4-3 away) is tied with the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the AFC North division. They need to win Sunday and have Baltimore lose at Cincinnati to earn the No. 2 seed.

Pittsburgh took care of business last week even without the services of Ben Roethlisberger. They beat the St. Louis Rams 27-0 at home behind a 116-yard rushing effort from Rashard Mendenhall. Charlie Batch threw for 208 yards in place of Roethlisberger.

Big Ben says he is going to try and give it a go this week. Roethlisberger suffered an ankle injury in their win over Cleveland in Week 14, and somehow came back to play the second half and lead his team to victory. He also played through the pain the following week against the San Francisco 49ers, but the Steelers would fall 20-3. Roethlisberger threw three interceptions in the loss.

Roethlisberger is having another big year. He is completing 63.6 percent of his passes for 3,856 yards with 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He has thrown seven scoring passes and no picks in his last four visits to Cleveland. Mendenhall has rushed for 890 yards and nine scores this year, needing 110 or more Sunday to eclipse 1,000 for the season.

Cleveland

The Browns have continued to fight despite knowing they were eliminated from the playoffs a long time ago. Cleveland (4-11, 3-4 home) would love nothing more than to beat their division rival to close out the season. Like Pittsburgh, they may also be playing without their starting quarterback.

Colt McCoy got hurt in their loss to the Steelers after a helmet-to-helmet hit that earned linebacker James Harrison a one-game suspension. McCoy would return to the game, but he was later diagnosed with a concussion that drew a lot of criticism to Cleveland’s coaching staff and trainers. He has missed the past two games because of the injury.

Backup Seneca Wallace figures to get the start again in place of McCoy. He has played pretty well despite a pair of close losses the past two weeks to the Arizona Cardinals and Baltimore Ravens. Wallace has thrown for 373 yards, two touchdowns and only one interception in the two games.

Peyton Hillis has been one of the biggest disappointments of the season for Cleveland. After a huge year last season, he has only rushed for 557 yards and three scores in 2011. Hillis has been hampered by a hamstring injury, though. He rushed for 25 yards on 10 carries in his first meeting with the Steelers.

Betting Trends

The Steelers are 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games in January, but just 2-6 ATS in their last 8 road games.

The Browns are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall, but just 1-8-2 ATS in their last 11 home games.

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