NFL Game Preview: Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns - Week 12

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Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns - Week 12

Game Preview Fantasy \| Game Notes \| Results & Schedule \| Injury Report \| Stat Comparisons \| Weather \| Team vs. Team History

HOU DET	34 31
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WAS DAL	38 31
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NE NYJ	49 19
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ATL TB	24 23
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TEN JAC	19 24
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SEA MIA	21 24
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PIT CLE	14 20
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OAK CIN	10 34
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MIN CHI	10 28
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BUF IND	13 20
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DEN KC	17 9
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BAL SD	16 13
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SF NO	31 21
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STL ARI	31 17
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GB NYG	10 38
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CAR PHI	30 22
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Week:	1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| 5 \| 6 \| 7 \| 8 \| 9 \| 10 \| 11 \| 12 \| 13 \| 14 \| 15 \| 16 \| 17
Playoffs:	Wild-Card \| Divisional Playoffs \| Conference Championships \| Super Bowl

Final Score Prediction

Steelers 23, Browns 17

Fantasy Player Rankings and Projections by Mike Krueger

Pittsburgh Steelers
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 25	Charlie Batch	Pass: 220, 1 TD Rush: 0, 0
RB 29	Jonathan Dwyer	Rush: 40, 1 TD Rec: 1-10, 0
RB 33	Rashard Mendenhall	Rush: 60, 0 TD Rec: 1-10, 0
RB 45	Isaac Redman	Rush: 20, 0 TD Rec: 3-20, 0
WR 31	Mike Wallace	Rec: 4-60, 0 TD
WR 43	Emmanuel Sanders	Rec: 5-60, 0 TD
WR 89	Plaxico Burress	Rec: 1-20, 0 TD
TE 11	Heath Miller	Rec: 4-40, 1 TD
K 10	Shaun Suisham	FG: 3/3 XP: 2/2
DEF 6	Defense / ST

View all Week 12 Rankings or Projections

Cleveland Browns
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 27	Brandon Weeden	Pass: 210, 1 TD Rush: 0, 0
RB 5	Trent Richardson	Rush: 80, 1 TD Rec: 4-40, 0
RB 51	Montario Hardesty	Rush: 20, 0 TD Rec: 1-10, 0
WR 54	Josh Gordon	Rec: 5-70, 0 TD
WR 58	Greg Little	Rec: 3-40, 0 TD
WR 83	Mohamed Massaquoi	Rec: 2-20, 0 TD
TE 26	Ben Watson	Rec: 3-30, 0 TD
K 32	Phil Dawson	FG: 1/1 XP: 1/1
DEF 18	Defense / ST

Game Notes

Steelers Club has won 10 of past 13 vs. AFC North. Pit. has won 10 of past 11 at Cle... QB Charlie Batch is 1-0 as starter vs. Browns. with 92 passer rating (11/13/05). Batch will make 1st start since 12/24/11 against Rams. RB Rashard Mendenhall tied career-high with 2 rush TDs at Cle. on 1/2/11. RB Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 122 yards on 17 att. (7.2 avg.) in last road game... WR Mike Wallace averages 21.6 yards per catch vs. Browns (15 receptions, 324 yards). WR Emmanuel Sanders had season-high 82 receiving yards last week. In 3 career games vs. Cle., WR Antonio Brown averages 97.7 receiving per game (293 total)... TE Heath Miller has 5 career TD catches vs. Browns... LB LaMarr Woodley has 3.5 sacks in past 3 meetings. LB James Harrison (60) needs half sack to surpass JOEY PORTER (60) for 2nd-most by Steeler since sacks became official statistic in 1982 (JASON GILDON, 77)... CB Keenan Lewis leads team with 18 passes defensed.

Browns Rookie QB Brandon Weeden (2,298) needs 150 passing yards to surpass TIM COUCH (2,447) for most by rookie in club history... Rookie RB Trent Richardson has 3 games with 100+ rush yards, tied for most ever by Browns rookie. In past 3, Richardson is averaging 107.3 rush yards per game. Aims for 3rd home game in row with 100+ rush yards. Leads AFC rookies with 670 rush yards. Has 12 catches in past 2 games... WR Josh Gordon ranks 2nd among NFL rookies in receiving yards (470). Averages 19.6 yards per catch in 2012. WR Greg Little (91) needs 9 catches to reach 100 career... TE Ben Watson tied career-best with 2 TD catches last week... Browns have 27 sacks, tied for 3rd-most in AFC... Defense posted season-high 7 sacks last week... LB D'QWELL JACKSON has team-high 76 tackles... DE Jabaal Sheard aims for 3rd consecutive game with sack... Since entering NFL in 2010, CB Joe Haden leads team with 8 INTs... K Phil Dawson has made 25 consecutive FGs, longest active streak in NFL. Dawson has made all 19 FGs in 2012, best pct. in NFL... KR-WR Josh Cribbs has 3 KR-TDs vs. Steelers, most vs. any opponent.

Results and Schedule

Pittsburgh Steelers
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2012-09-09	DEN	A	L 19-31	-12
2	2012-09-16	NYJ	H	W 27-10	+17
3	2012-09-23	OAK	A	L 31-34	-3
4		Bye
5	2012-10-07	PHI	H	W 16-14	+2
6	2012-10-11	TEN	A	L 23-26	-3
7	2012-10-21	CIN	A	W 24-17	+7
8	2012-10-28	WAS	H	W 27-12	+15
9	2012-11-04	NYG	A	W 24-20	+4
10	2012-11-12	KC	H	W 16-13	+3
11	2012-11-18	BAL	H	L 10-13	-3
12	2012-11-25	CLE	A	L 14-20	-6
13	2012-12-02	BAL	A
14	2012-12-09	SD	H
15	2012-12-16	DAL	A
16	2012-12-23	CIN	H
17	2012-12-30	CLE	H

Cleveland Browns
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2012-09-09	PHI	H	L 16-17	-1
2	2012-09-16	CIN	A	L 27-34	-7
3	2012-09-23	BUF	H	L 14-24	-10
4	2012-09-27	BAL	A	L 16-23	-7
5	2012-10-07	NYG	A	L 27-41	-14
6	2012-10-14	CIN	H	W 34-24	+10
7	2012-10-21	IND	A	L 13-17	-4
8	2012-10-28	SD	H	W 7-6	+1
9	2012-11-04	BAL	H	L 15-25	-10
10		Bye
11	2012-11-18	DAL	A	L 20-23	-3
12	2012-11-25	PIT	H	W 20-14	+6
13	2012-12-02	OAK	A
14	2012-12-09	KC	H
15	2012-12-16	WAS	H
16	2012-12-23	DEN	A
17	2012-12-30	PIT	A

Injury Report

Pittsburgh Steelers
Out	WR Jerricho Cotchery (shoulder) QB Byron Leftwich (ribs) QB Ben Roethlisberger (shoulder)
Doubtful	SS Troy Polamalu (calf)
Questionable	WR Antonio Brown (ankle) DE Ziggy Hood (back)
Probable	SS Will Allen (shoulder) RB Isaac Redman (concussion) ILB Stevenson Sylvester (hamstring)
IR	OLB Chris Carter (abdomen, 11/15) ILB Sean Spence (knee, 8/31)

Cleveland Browns
Out	WR Jordan Norwood (foot) CB Dimitri Patterson (ankle) SS Ray Ventrone (calf)
Probable	TE Jordan Cameron (groin) WR Josh Cribbs (back) CB Joe Haden (oblique) DE Juqua Parker (shin) RB Trent Richardson (other-excused) DT Ahtyba Rubin (calf) DE Frostee Rucker (shoulder) CB Buster Skrine (head) SS T.J. Ward (knee)
IR	SLB Emmanuel Acho (undisclosed, 8/27) SLB Scott Fujita (neck, 10/24) OLB Chris Gocong (achilles-tendon, 8/27)

Offense Stats Comparison

	PIT Offense	CLE Offense	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Points for	21.8	16.0	23.0	PIT
Rushing yards	131.8	115.0	115.0	PIT
Rushing yards per attempt	4.44	3.70	4.26	PIT
Completion %	61.3%	55.0%	61.7%	PIT
Passing yards	211.8	194.7	232.6	PIT
Passing yards per completion	10.44	10.38	10.78	PIT
Passing yards per attempt	6.40	5.71	6.65	PIT
Interceptions	0.8	0.3	0.9	CLE
Fumbles lost	0.8	0.0	0.7	CLE
Sacks allowed	2.0	1.7	2.2	CLE
3rd down conversions	43.2%	36.8%	37.9%	PIT
4th down conversions	33.3%	25.0%	50.6%	PIT
Time of possession	33:21	29:18	30:02	PIT

Defense Stats Comparison

	PIT Defense	CLE Defense	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Points against	15.8	21.3	23.0	PIT
Rushing yards	82.0	110.0	115.0	PIT
Rushing yards per attempt	3.59	3.63	4.26	PIT
Completion %	50.8%	62.8%	61.7%	PIT
Passing yards	146.0	192.7	232.6	PIT
Passing yards per completion	9.94	9.43	10.78	CLE
Passing yards per attempt	5.05	5.93	6.65	PIT
INT return	0.8	0.0	0.9	PIT
Fumble recoveries	0.0	1.0	0.7	CLE
Sacks	1.8	2.0	2.2	CLE
3rd down conversions	30.8%	35.6%	37.9%	PIT
4th down conversions	80.0%	60.0%	50.6%	CLE
Time of possession	26:53	32:19	30:02	PIT

Special Teams Stats Comparison

	PIT	CLE	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Yards per punt return	7.6	13.4	9.1	CLE
Yards per kick return	27.9	20.9	23.2	PIT
Yards allowed per punt return	13.9	10.4	9.1	CLE
Yards allowed per kick return	24.6	19.6	23.2	CLE

Misc Stats Comparison

	PIT	CLE	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Penalties	4.5	6.0	6.3	PIT
Penalty yards	40.8	48.3	53.1	PIT

Note: Team statistics are shown as the average per game through Weeks 6 to 11 of the 2012 season after deducting the best and worst value from the data set. The exception is yards per rush attempt, completion %, yards per pass completion, yards per pass attempt, 3rd and 4th down conversions, special teams and the NFL averages, which are each calculated based on totals through Weeks 6 to 11 with no adjustment.

Weather

Team vs. Team History

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns
Season	Week	Date	Vis	Home	Score	Winner
2000	3	2000-09-17	PIT	CLE	20-23	CLE
2000	8	2000-10-22	CLE	PIT	0-22	PIT
2001	9	2001-11-11	PIT	CLE	15-12	PIT
2001	17	2002-01-06	CLE	PIT	7-28	PIT
2002	4	2002-09-29	CLE	PIT	13-16	PIT
2002	9	2002-11-03	PIT	CLE	23-20	PIT
2003	5	2003-10-05	CLE	PIT	33-13	CLE
2003	12	2003-11-23	PIT	CLE	13-6	PIT
2004	5	2004-10-10	CLE	PIT	23-34	PIT
2004	10	2004-11-14	PIT	CLE	24-10	PIT
2005	10	2005-11-13	CLE	PIT	21-34	PIT
2005	16	2005-12-24	PIT	CLE	41-0	PIT
2006	11	2006-11-19	PIT	CLE	24-20	PIT
2006	14	2006-12-07	CLE	PIT	7-27	PIT
2007	1	2007-09-09	PIT	CLE	34-7	PIT
2007	10	2007-11-11	CLE	PIT	28-31	PIT
2008	2	2008-09-14	PIT	CLE	10-6	PIT
2008	17	2008-12-28	CLE	PIT	0-31	PIT
2009	6	2009-10-18	CLE	PIT	14-27	PIT
2009	14	2009-12-10	PIT	CLE	6-13	CLE
2010	6	2010-10-17	CLE	PIT	10-28	PIT
2010	17	2011-01-02	PIT	CLE	41-9	PIT
2011	14	2011-12-08	CLE	PIT	3-14	PIT
2011	17	2012-01-01	PIT	CLE	13-9	PIT

Note: Only playoff games from the 2004 to 2010 seasons are included in the team vs. team history. Playoff games from seasons prior to 2004 are not currently included in the database.