There will only be a little more than 5,000 fans in attendance at Heinz Field on Sunday for the Steelers' game against the Browns because of COVID-19 restrictions. But the expectation is that they'll sound like a crowd of 65,000 raining boos down on Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett if and when his named is mentioned by the public address announcer during the game.
Garrett is the latest villain in this rivalry for the Browns after touching off a brawl in a 21-7 win in Cleveland against the Steelers last year when he bludgeoned Mason Rudolph over the head with his own helmet which he had ripped off the head of the Steelers backup quarterback.
That touched off a brawl that resulted in 33 players being disciplined by the NFL with fines nearing $750,000.
Garrett claimed several days later that Rudolph had used a racial slur against him, triggering the reaction, an accusation he repeated later after he was reinstated by the NFL following an indefinite suspension for the incident that sidelined him for the final six games of the 2019 season.
It also was an accusation Rudolph and several Steelers who were in the area adamantly denied. As our Ramon Foster wrote earlier this week, "I know Mason Rudolph didn't say what Garrett accused him of saying. I'll just leave it at that."
Garrett has six sacks, 10 quarterback hits and has forced a league-high three fumbles in the Browns' first five games. He's garnering attention for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. But unlike T.J. Watt, who finished third in the defensive player of the year voting last season and is a candidate again this year, Garrett is largely a one-man show.
While the Steelers have four players with three or more sacks -- no other team has more than two players with that total -- Garrett has accounted for half of Cleveland's 12 sacks this season.
Because of that, the Steelers are more concerned with his play on the field than what he has had to say off it.
"There really is no message," Mike Tomlin said of what he would tell his team in regard to keeping its cool with Garrett. "My day-to-day existence kind of relays that message that you suggested. There’s a lot on the table in reference to this game in terms of stakes. They’re a 4-1 team. We’re trying to remain undefeated We’re not looking for that low-hanging fruit or that reality TV storyline and so forth. This is a big game here in 2020."
Garrett is obviously not just Cleveland's best defensive player, he's the Browns best player regardless of position. And the Browns move him all over the defensive formation to keep opposing offenses from zeroing in on him to get help with blocking.
"It appears that he moves around more when (defensive end Olivier Vernon) isn’t playing. For example, it might be relative to their people. Sometimes it might be the structure of the call," Tomlin said. "They have some solid fronts where they cover up your interior three, and he plays over a guard. Sometimes it may be situational relative to one-on-one pass matchups. I know regardless of what the reason might be, we better be cognizant of his movement and work to minimize it in all the above circumstances."
Ben Roethlisberger calls out the opposing team's middle linebacker when he steps to the line of scrimmage on every offensive play to help the offensive line know where its blocks are. In this case, he could also be identifying for his line where Garrett is lined up.
That is why it was such good news for the Steelers that center Maurkice Pouncey, who left last Sunday's win against the Eagles with a foot injury, should be OK to play against the Browns. Pouncey also is key in helping the line identify its blocking scheme.
"(Myles Garrett) is a generational-type football player," said Roethlisberger. "He’s really, really good. He’s a guy that we have to know where he is, and we’re going to have to have multiple guys blocking him because he is a game changer. He is that good."