AFC Notes: Browns, Ravens, Steelers

Browns

The Browns won again on Sunday night to move their record to 10-4, tying their best record in the past 25 years. But the last time the Browns won 10 games they didn’t make the playoffs and that could still technically happen this year. So QB Baker Mayfield was more measured than you might expect. 

“We are of the mentality right now that we control our own destiny,” Mayfield said via the team’s website. “[It’s] a notch on the belt, and then move on. We’re not done yet.”

• Scott Petrak says that Browns’ OL Chris Hubbard is set to have season-ending knee surgery after suffering torn ligaments and a dislocated kneecap early in the game Sunday night against the Giants. 
• Browns’ DT Sheldon Richardson is suffering from a neck injury that HC Kevin Stefanski says is not serious, but he added that he still doesn’t know if Richardson will be able to practice this week.
• Browns’ S Ronnie Harrison is eligible to be activated from injured reserve after injuring his shoulder, yet Stefanski is unsure whether or not this will happen.
• Browns’ LB Mack Wilson went from being a starter to a healthy scratch in favor of rookie LB Jacob Phillips, with Stefanski saying it was “just my decision”.
• Browns’ WR Jarvis Landry missed out on what would have been his sixth straight Pro Bowl, likely due to his lingering hip injury and the fact that Cleveland’s offense struggled early in the season. (Mary Kay Cabot)

Ravens

Instead of a second-year jump, Ravens WR Marquise Brown has struggled for most of 2020. Brown complained about his usage during the Ravens’ offensive struggles but followed that up with issues with drops, including last Monday night against the Browns. The former 2019 first-round pick redeemed himself with a long touchdown grab, though, and had one of his better games of the season with six catches for 98 yards Sunday against Jacksonville. 

“Lamar put me in a good situation, and God put me in a good situation. And that kind of helped a bad-ass day turn into something positive, because we got the victory,” Brown said via the Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec. “As a receiver in this league, you can’t drop the ball. So, that’s what I pride myself on, and that’s what I’m going to continue to work on going forward.”

• The Ravens have definite interest in extending OT Orlando Brown. But if his strong play at left tackle has raised his price tag too much, it might be difficult for Baltimore to keep him after already committing a massive amount to LT Ronnie Stanley. (Zrebiec)
• Zrebiec expects Trace McSorley and Tyler Huntley to compete to be the backup quarterback in 2021. He doesn’t expect the Ravens to re-sign Robert Griffin.

Steelers

In what looked like an easy get-right game to stop the Steeler’s two-game losing streak, Pittsburgh instead found itself behind 17-0 to the Bengals after a half. The Steelers couldn’t close the gap in the second and instead of building momentum for the playoffs, Pittsburgh now finds itself increasingly desperate to pull out of a three-game nosedive. 

“I’m not consistent enough, which affects the offense because the ball is in my hand every play,” Roethlisberger said. “I just felt like they were taking away some of the underneath stuff so we wanted to take some shots down the field and the disconnect was me not making it happen.”

Roethlisberger is coming off of major elbow surgery last year and has been dealing with a knee injury this season. He admitted he wasn’t 100 percent but added that shouldn’t be an excuse. 

“Well I don’t think anybody that plays this game at any position whether it’s Week 1 or Week 16 feels 100 percent. So I would say, no, I don’t feel 100 percent, but nobody does right now,” Roethlisberger told reporters via Pro Football Talk.

• Over The Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald lists the Steelers as one of the five teams with the most sunk costs and least financial flexibility in 2021. 
• Steelers TE Eric Ebron avoided organ damage despite a massive hit in Monday night’s game and should be okay, though the Steelers face a short week. (Tom Pelissero)
• Steelers HC Mike Tomlin isn’t eyeing any major changes despite the three-game skid: “We just have to do it better. We’ll shut our mouths and go at our next opportunity.” (Pryor)
• In a noticeable change, Tomlin stopped short of committing to RB James Conner as his bellcow start, noting how well RB Benny Snell ran Monday: “You’ve got to admit Benny was an awesome element of play for us in the last game when we didn’t have a lot of awesome elements of play. … he’ll have an opp to be impactful in this one regardless of James’ availability.” (Pryor)