Steelers 2023 Success Is Foundation Of Obnoxious Theory That Browns Can Become A Carbon Copy To Keep Winning

The Pittsburgh Steelers were underdogs heading into the Week 11 matchup with the Cleveland Browns. Deshaun Watson had led the Browns out of a two-touchdown hole against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore. Despite being in third place in the AFC North, Cleveland was suddenly declared the team with the inside track to win the division.

That was a popular narrative when the entire country went to bed on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, the Browns and Watson shocked the football world with news of a season-ending shoulder surgery. Mason Rudolph has better luck than Cleveland fans at this point. The $230 million dollar man will have played 12 of a possible 34 games during his first two seasons in the "mistake by the lake." That is not exactly money well spent. 

On Wednesday, The PM Team w/Poni & Mueller welcomed Aditi Kinkhabwala, the CBS sideline reporter, to the program for her weekly appearance. Kinkhabwala had taken to social media earlier on Wednesday to console Browns fans. She went from conciliatory to borderline disrespectful of the Pittsburgh coaching staff during her appearance on the afternoon program. 

"I think they are feeling good about riding with who they have," Kinkhabwala began. "You are talking about my tweet. I also made the point of saying that this is a championship-caliber defense. It's the best defense in the National Football League. They are running the ball really well, even having lost Nick Chubb, having lost All-Pro tackle Jack Conklin. They just sort of need some competent quarterback play. It's not like the Steelers have been winning with an offense that is completely ripping the league apart."

The Steelers' offense, led by a suddenly resurgent running game with the insertion of Broderick Jones into the starting lineup, has been much better over the last two games. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren will face their toughest test behind the new offensive line in Week 11. The Browns are playing excellent defense, but you can't double-cover George Pickens and stuff the box with Diontae Johnson on the field. 

The insinuation by Kinkhabwala that Dorian Thompson-Robinson's second professional start will put him on equal footing with Kenny Pickett is a dubious conclusion. Pickett has not been a top-tier quarterback, but has demonstrated a knack for winning close games and making crucial plays in critical moments. He has also won four of his five AFC North starts, a fact that fails to register with the CBS sideline reporter. 

"That win Sunday, you know the Steelers win on Sunday, and you're like okay, the Steelers win, okay, there's another comeback win," Kinkhabwala stated. "It wasn't, oh my goodness, we have arrived. In 60 previous division games, they had never climbed out of a two-touchdown hole. They did it. You sort of felt if you're a Browns fan, you turned the corner."

The Browns lost at home 28-3 to the same Ravens they shocked in Week 10. Thompson-Robinson threw three interceptions and was largely ineffective despite a stellar preseason nearly as misleading as Pickett's. Kinkhabwala was prepared to issue a built-in excuse for the Browns' rookie after being teed up by Chris Mueller. 

"The Browns and DTR [Dorian Thompson-Robinson] had exactly two hours notice he was going to start that game Sunday against the Ravens," Kinkhabwala said. "He was not prepared. The Browns were not prepared. None of that preparation had been done at all. Contrast that to when the Browns were playing the [San Francisco] 49ers, and they knew they were going with PJ Walker, and they had a plan that even Nick Bosa said they were incredibly efficient and had a great plan."

Andrew Fillipponi should have asked why she is grading Kevin Stefanski and Alex Van Pelt differently from every other coach in the NFL. It is devastating to lose your starting quarterback two hours before a divisional game, but to make the excuse that they had not prepared the backup quarterback at all is ludicrous. A backup quarterback's insertion into the lineup is not an excuse to play poorly; no NFL-caliber coaching staff would try to make that excuse. 

"You will see Alex Van Pelt, the offensive coordinator, and Kevin Stefanski come up with something that is definitely better and better designed to make DTR comfortable," Kinkhabwala concluded. "I think that he learned a ton from that outing, and he's got his many more practice reps in. You should expect something better. I don't think this is necessarily it; the Browns season is over."

PJ Walker has been listed as the backup for Watson since Thompson-Robinson's underwhelming performance against the Ravens in a 28-3 home loss. The supposition that the third-string quarterback has gotten significant practice snaps during the season is an embarrassing blunder from someone who should know better. 

Either the Browns coaching staff failed to prepare their backup quarterbacks for sudden insertion into a game, or they didn't. The observation that they did much better planning for Walker's appearance against the San Francisco 49ers completely ignores the fact that the Browns' offense was gifted mainly to them on dubious penalties against the 49ers. 

The Browns have never won the AFC North, and it is not an accident. The national perception of the Steelers is that they bumble along haplessly, and somehow, Mike Tomlin's plan to hang around long enough for TJ Watt to either score himself or give Pickett a short field for a game-winning drive late in games. The perception is wrong. It may not make sense to fans, but Tomlin is playing what he thinks is winning football with a team built for the last century. 

Kinkhabwala's assertion that the Browns can flip a switch and win like the Steelers is a disservice to Tomlin. It is not a pretty formula in Pittsburgh, but it is challenging to duplicate. The Steelers rarely turn the ball over. The defense is built on splash plays and creating scoring opportunities. It is also predicated on a quarterback that will find a way in the fourth quarter to win a one-score game. 

Cleveland will learn a harrowing lesson if they attempt to duplicate the Steelers' game plan. If you intentionally play conservative football that ends up in one-score games, you must have a quarterback who will make plays in the fourth quarter. The Steelers have a fire-tested Pickett with a 10-1 record in one-score games. The Browns don't. 

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Are you insulted that Kinkhabwala thinks the Browns can just start playing like the Steelers and be successful? Please comment below, or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq. 

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