NFL Game Preview: Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers - Week 17

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Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers - Week 17

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

TB ATL	22 17
Pre	Post

PHI NYG	7 42
Pre	Post

NYJ BUF	9 28
Pre	Post

JAC TEN	20 38
Pre	Post

HOU IND	16 28
Pre	Post

CLE PIT	10 24
Pre	Post

CHI DET	26 24
Pre	Post

BAL CIN	17 23
Pre	Post

CAR NO	44 38
Pre	Post

ARI SF	13 27
Pre	Post

STL SEA	13 20
Pre	Post

OAK SD	21 24
Pre	Post

MIA NE	0 28
Pre	Post

KC DEN	3 38
Pre	Post

GB MIN	34 37
Pre	Post

DAL WAS	18 28
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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 17, Browns 10

Fantasy Player Rankings and Projections by Mike Krueger

Cleveland Browns
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 29	Thaddeus Lewis	Pass: 200, 1 TD Rush: 0, 0
RB 24	Montario Hardesty	Rush: 80, 0 TD Rec: 3-30, 0
RB 50	Brandon Jackson	Rush: 20, 0 TD Rec: 0-0, 0
WR 36	Josh Gordon	Rec: 5-60, 0 TD
WR 44	Greg Little	Rec: 5-60, 0 TD
TE 17	Ben Watson	Rec: 4-40, 0 TD
K 31	Phil Dawson	FG: 1/1 XP: 1/1
DEF 7	Defense / ST

View all Week 17 Rankings or Projections

Pittsburgh Steelers
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 25	Ben Roethlisberger	Pass: 230, 1 TD Rush: 0, 0
RB 31	Jonathan Dwyer	Rush: 50, 0 TD Rec: 1-10, 0
RB 43	Rashard Mendenhall	Rush: 40, 0 TD Rec: 0-0, 0
RB 64	Isaac Redman	Rush: 10, 0 TD Rec: 3-20, 0
WR 15	Antonio Brown	Rec: 7-80, 1 TD
WR 41	Emmanuel Sanders	Rec: 4-50, 0 TD
TE 27	Leonard Pope	Rec: 3-30, 0 TD
K 26	Shaun Suisham	FG: 1/1 XP: 2/2
DEF 6	Defense / ST

Game Notes

Browns QB Brandon Weeden (5) has most wins ever by Browns rookie QB. Weeden (3,385) has most pass yards by rookie in club history & has 2nd-most among NFL rookies in '12 (ANDREW LUCK, 4,183). Has 9 TDs & 87 rating on road. Needs 115 passing yards to become 5th rookie QB in NFL history to reach 3,500. QB Colt McCoy had 1 TD vs. 0 INTs & 85.2 passer rating last week... RB Trent Richardson has most rush yards (950) & rush TDs (11) by Browns rookie in franchise history. Has 3 games with 100+ rush yards, tied for most ever by Browns rookie. Totaled 112 scrim. yards & rush TD in last meeting vs. Pit... WR Josh Gordon ranks 2nd among NFL rookies with 766 rec. yards. WR Greg Little (609) needs 101 rec. yards to surpass rookie total in '11. TE Jordan Cameron had TD rec. in last game vs. Pit... Cle. forced 8 turnovers (5 FRs, 3 INTs) in last game vs. Pit... LB D'QWELL JACKSON had 9 tackles, FF & FR in last game vs. Pit... K Phil Dawson has made 28 of 29 FGs in 2012, 2nd-best pct. in NFL.

Steelers Have won past 8 at home vs. Cle... For career vs. Cle., QB Ben Roethlisberger is 14-1 (.933), incl. 7-0 record at home vs. Browns. Has 29,710 pass yards, most in Steelers annals. RB Jonathan Dwyer has career-best 571 rush yards in '12. RB Rashard Mendenhall (29) needs rush TD to join HOFer FRANCO HARRIS & JEROME BETTIS as 3rd Pit. RB to reach 30 career... For career, WR Mike Wallace averages 20.8 yards per catch vs. Cle. (16 rec., 333 yards)... WR Antonio Brown aims for 4th straight game with TD catch. In past 2 vs. Cle., Brown is averaging 120.5 receiving yards per game... TE Heath Miller has career-best in receiving yards (816) & TD catches (8) in '12... Defense allows NFL-low 272.9 yards per game... LB LaMarr Woodley has 3.5 sacks in past 4 vs. Cle. LB Larry Foote leads team with 104 tackles. LB Lawrence Timmons tied career-high with 2 sacks last week... S Troy Polamalu aims for 4th straight game with INT vs. Cle... CB Cortez Allen had career-best 2 INTs last week.

Results and Schedule

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	W 20-17	+3
14	2012-12-09	KC	H	W 30-7	+23
15	2012-12-16	WAS	H	L 21-38	-17
16	2012-12-23	DEN	A	L 12-34	-22
17	2012-12-30	PIT	A	L 10-24	-14

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	W 23-20	+3
14	2012-12-09	SD	H	L 24-34	-10
15	2012-12-16	DAL	A	L 24-27	-3
16	2012-12-23	CIN	H	L 10-13	-3
17	2012-12-30	CLE	H	W 24-10	+14

Injury Report

Cleveland Browns
Out	CB Sheldon Brown (concussion) TE Jordan Cameron (concussion) QB Colt McCoy (shoulder) WR Jordan Norwood (foot) RB Trent Richardson (ankle) QB Brandon Weeden (shoulder)
Probable	WR Josh Cribbs (knee) DT John Hughes (back) DE Juqua Parker (knee) DE Frostee Rucker (shoulder) TE Alex Smith (other-illness)
IR	SLB Emmanuel Acho (undisclosed, 8/27) SLB Scott Fujita (neck, 10/24) OLB Chris Gocong (achilles-tendon, 8/27) SLB James-Michael Johnson (knee, 12/18) WR Mohamed Massaquoi (knee, 12/24) SS T.J. Ward (knee, 12/18)

Pittsburgh Steelers
Out	CB Curtis Brown (ankle) WR Mike Wallace (hip)
Probable	CB Keenan Lewis (knee)
IR	OLB Chris Carter (abdomen, 11/15) TE Heath Miller (knee, 12/26) ILB Sean Spence (knee, 8/31) CB Ike Taylor (ankle, 12/26) CB Demarcus Van Dyke (shoulder, 12/18)

Offense Stats Comparison

	CLE Offense	PIT Offense	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Points for	20.3	17.8	22.3	CLE
Rushing yards	110.0	82.3	117.9	CLE
Rushing yards per attempt	3.95	3.71	4.30	CLE
Completion %	61.1%	55.9%	59.3%	CLE
Passing yards	191.3	229.8	225.0	PIT
Passing yards per completion	10.31	11.50	10.90	PIT
Passing yards per attempt	6.30	6.43	6.47	PIT
Interceptions	0.8	1.5	1.0	CLE
Fumbles lost	0.3	1.3	0.7	CLE
Sacks allowed	2.8	2.8	2.4	-
3rd down conversions	29.6%	29.5%	37.4%	CLE
4th down conversions	37.5%	33.3%	41.9%	CLE
Time of possession	30:49	29:25	30:27	CLE

Defense Stats Comparison

	CLE Defense	PIT Defense	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Points against	22.0	20.0	22.3	PIT
Rushing yards	97.0	84.0	117.9	PIT
Rushing yards per attempt	4.09	3.05	4.30	PIT
Completion %	64.9%	59.0%	59.3%	PIT
Passing yards	274.3	195.8	225.0	PIT
Passing yards per completion	10.14	9.70	10.90	PIT
Passing yards per attempt	6.57	5.72	6.47	PIT
INT return	1.0	0.5	1.0	CLE
Fumble recoveries	0.3	0.5	0.7	PIT
Sacks	2.3	2.5	2.4	PIT
3rd down conversions	38.8%	32.6%	37.4%	PIT
4th down conversions	75.0%	50.0%	41.9%	PIT
Time of possession	30:55	30:56	30:27	CLE

Special Teams Stats Comparison

	CLE	PIT	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Yards per punt return	16.9	4.9	10.0	CLE
Yards per kick return	20.2	22.3	22.8	PIT
Yards allowed per punt return	4.4	12.5	10.0	CLE
Yards allowed per kick return	18.2	18.5	22.8	CLE

Misc Stats Comparison

	CLE	PIT	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Penalties	8.0	5.8	6.3	PIT
Penalty yards	61.0	52.0	52.9	PIT

Note: Team statistics are shown as the average per game through Weeks 11 to 16 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 11 to 16 with no adjustment.

Weather

Team vs. Team History

Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
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
2012	12	2012-11-25	PIT	CLE	14-20	CLE

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.