The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a history of terrorizing the Cleveland Browns and their fans. While that trend has started to die down a bit since the turn of the decade, Pittsburgh is still historically the far superior team since Cleveland got its team back in 1999. There are endless stories about the "rivalry" over the years, including all of the ways that legendary lineman Joe Thomas was let down during his career. However, that has led to some interesting situations that very few players in NFL history have ever dealt with.
YouTube / New Heights
Joe Thomas speaks with Travis and Jason Kelce on their show, New Heights.
While making an appearance on New Heights, Thomas was asked about all the different quarterback situations he has dealt with. That led to him talking about a tale of when his young teammate completely misunderstood a basic call.
"We were playing the Steelers the very last game of the season [in 2012]," Thomas said. "It was actually kind of a close game down the stretch at the time. Thad Lewis was our starting quarterback... I'm like, 'Holy cow, we may actually win this game.' We're driving down the field, it's in the fourth quarter, and we're just getting into the Heinz Red Zone... My left guard, who was a backup, it was his first couple games as a starter. We have a 2-Jet protection, just super basic, like we're sliding left. Alex Mack is my center, and he says, 'Lion,' which our call then was like, 'Hey dipsh*t, even if you didn't hear Lion or 2-Jet, we're going that way, bro.'"
Obviously, it's hard for a backup to know everything about the playbook when he's not on the field for most of the season, but as Thomas mentioned, that 2-Jet protection is one of the first offensive line schemes that gets installed in training camp. While it's a very basic play, this isn't a pre-2020 Steelers/Browns story without something going horrifically wrong for Cleveland.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Joey Porter Jr. talks to a Browns player before their Week 14 matchup.
Thomas continued with the story about how the backup left guard misinterpreted the play.
"So, what does he do? He goes to the right," Thomas said. "The [Steelers] are playing a 3-4 at the time. James Harrison's the linebacker, I'm sliding out to him, and [Lawrence Timmons] is unblocked now. 'Left guard, that's your dude,' goes the wrong way. He steamrolls Thad and detaches his head from his body, so Thad's laying there. Thad's already our third-string quarterback. All of a sudden, in the huddle, we're like, 'D*mn, this is not good,' because we actually don't know who the next guy in is."
Obviously, the Browns have had numerous quarterbacks since their rebirth, so it's hard to remember and keep track of every single one. However, it's still wild that an entire team has no idea who will be leading them in the middle of a game, even after possible injury. Lawrence Timmons' free bull-rush on Lewis resulted in a newly signed fourth-string quarterback getting thrown into the fire. That player was Josh Johnson, who would develop into the prototypical journeyman backup.
Thomas continued on with his story and spoke about what happened when Johnson was on the field.
"[Josh Johnson] trots out onto the field after they get Thad Lewis' lifeless body off the field," Thomas explained. "He comes into the huddle and it's still a TV timeout. I look around the huddle, and I could see it in everyone's eyes, like nobody knows who this f**king guy is, and I can feel the tension. As a captain, I was like, Ok, I got to do something here. There's a lot of tension being built, and it just keeps rising as this timeout keeps going on, so I said, 'Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Joe Thomas, I'm your left tackle. Let's go down the field and get a f**king score and win the game.'"
Spoiler alert: they did not win the game. On the very next play, Johnson took another huge sack from Timmons and fumbled the ball, which the Steelers recovered. Pittsburgh did not give the ball back up as they won 24-10 to finish the season on a high note and with the infamous 8-8 record to preserve a non-losing season. The Steelers did not make the playoffs despite that win, though, as being .500 was not good enough to make the playoffs.
NFL on Fox
Former Steelers middle linebacker Lawrence Timmons brings down former Packers QB Aaron Rodgers.
Even after the Super Bowl runs were done for Pittsburgh, their defense was still a very feared unit, with guys like James Harrison and Troy Polamalu making opposing play-callers lose sleep. Even when they were on the decline, they would still step up and show the league that they could still bring fear to any quarterback, and at times, make their opponent not know who was throwing the ball.
What do you think about Timmons' free rush making the Browns not know who their next quarterback was? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChisB.
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