The Steelers might well suffer their most devastating loss of the season Sunday in Cleveland.
And yeah, I typed that with a straight face.
No, I can't take the Browns remotely seriously. They're basically a salaried college team, coming off a 1-15 disaster, several additional decades of stinking, and they're carrying four quarterbacks who have one thing in common: None has won an NFL game. Analyzing them is a waste of breath so profound that even Mike Tomlin slashed his usual press conference praise-for-the-opponent segment to a record low.
But then I don't have to take the Browns seriously. The participants on the field have to.
There's a natural tendency for a heavy favorite, at any level of sports, to let up against the opponent. Plays can be executed with less exertion, less emotion, and so they are. It's only human. And with Mike Tomlin teams, in all candor, that's been more the norm than the exception.
But I'm not talking about the outcome here. The Steelers will win by whatever margin suits their collective mood. Rather, I'm talking about avoiding injury, especially to their skill guys on offense. Because I can cite three glaring red flags on this front without even thinking hard:
1. Le'Veon Bell hasn't taken a solitary hit in pads since this past January. But, according to Tomlin on Tuesday, it sure sounds like he'll suit up and get a few snaps Sunday. Given his history of injuries both large and small, getting him through this game could be -- I could argue it should be -- paramount.
Now add to that Bell's public proclamation that he avoided training camp out of fear of injury, and the mindset it indicates.
I'm not sure I'd play him in Cleveland. Not as punishment, but to make sure he's fully ready for the 15-plus games that follow.
2. Martavis Bryant's had at least some of camp and some preseason reps, but his situation's little different. Except that he hasn't played regular-season tackle football in nearly two years.
He's obviously got to play to get that back, but the point here is that he's got to be all-out and razor-sharp. As he found out in the preseason against the Colts ...
... there's no substituting or simulating real action. He's got to be ready for the worst.
3. Alejandro Villanueva hasn't had a steady or strong camp and preseason. He's been distracted by a strange contract situation that's since been settled and, more important, he's been concussed, and he's had his clock cleaned a couple of times. One of those resulted in Ben Roethlisberger being strip-sacked in the Indianapolis exhibition ...
... and it was, most unfortunately, a reflection of how things have gone for him.
I believe in Villanueva, and I'd be stunned if he doesn't solidify soon. But it's got to be Sunday. He'll most likely be lining up against Myles Garrett, the No. 1 overall pick in the most recent draft, who's not only been robustly impressive in Cleveland's camp, but also comes with enough confidence/cockiness that, when asked after his selection which quarterback he most looks forward to sacking, he quickly replied: “Big Ben is a Super Bowl winner, and I heard he’s hard to take down. So, I’m coming for him first, to chop him down.”
Maybe he will. Maybe he won't. But better be ready.
• That goes for Tomlin, too, while I'm at it. History shows he's spectacularly stubborn about taking out his starters in blowouts. Well, for all of the above reasons and more, his default needs to be the hook.
• The Browns' 53-man roster is the youngest in the NFL by an astonishing margin, with an average age of 24.2 that's nearly a full year younger than the second-youngest team, the Rams at 25.1.
The Steelers are the 18th-youngest at 26.1, but that's the youngest they've been in six years.
The oldest, of course, is the Cardinals, of course, since Arizona is where Pittsburgh careers go to die, right?
I'm rambling about this only to get to the point that it's a young man's game, and I absolutely love that Tomlin reiterated -- or clarified, depending on how one read his previous remarks -- that T.J. Watt will be his starter at right outside linebacker.
It's easy to say that should have been a simple choice, but it wasn't always. Thanks to all three of the top picks in the 2016 draft making an immediate impact, it's clear the head coach no longer sticks by his vet by default. Even when that vet is James Harrison, and even when Harrison remained an impact performer at times last season. Now, instead of going with the easy default, he's on the side of letting Watt benefit from 16 games of experience before, theoretically, he can do real damage in the playoffs.
• There's no reason not to believe Pat Narduzzi's claim that Pitt showed no more than a third of its offense against Youngstown State, in part because it wants to keep future opponents guessing. Meaning Penn State.
But the other two-thirds of that playbook had better involve something downfield.
Max Browne's efficiency in the opener -- 17 of 24 -- was impressive enough, but it's hard to generate much in the way of points with those 17 completions accounting for only 140 yards, or 8.2 per completion, 5.8 per attempt, 5.2 per actual pass play if one counts three sacks.
And yet, the winning throw to Jester Weah in OT, only 11 yards but still Browne's longest after halftime, was of strikingly good quality:
Let the kid throw a little. It's not like the offense could do much worse than Saturday.
• The primary objective of sports is winning. When the primary objective is something other than winning, then we're no longer talking about sports.
That's all I've got.
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