The final match of a wonderful Super Wildcard weekend to kick off the NFL playoffs sees two AFC North rivals battling it out when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Cleveland Browns in what is likely to be a very competitive encounter.
To say that these two don’t like each other would be an understatement and they meet here for the second week is succession having closed out the regular season against each other. That contest was in Cleveland but it is Pittsburgh who get hosting duties here.
Pittsburgh Steelers
There was once a time when the Pittsburgh Steelers looked on for the perfect 16-0 regular season. It took until Washington beat them in week 12 for those hopes to end but then they finished the campaign in very indifferent form with four defeats in their last five and although the one win in that time was enough to secure them the NFC North title, they could only finish third in the Conference so they know they will be on the road at the Buffalo Bills next week should they come out on top here.
The Pittsburgh defence was one of the big reasons why they were in such a commanding position earlier in the season but as injuries and Covid-19 issues began to strike they weakened in that area. Their offense came off the top of their form as well which is never a good combination. Although the Steelers lost to the Browns last week they rested a huge number of their starters so it would be unfair to judge them on that outing.
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Cleveland Browns
Finally after 19 long years the Cleveland Browns have secured a return to the postseason and they will be eager to ensure they are here for a lot longer than one week having worked so hard to get here. With finally ending that streak comes a little bit of expectation and pressure and they are going to have to deal with that, but in a funny way it might be that playing a division rival could be in their favour as there will be a little bit of normality to the situation for them.
When Odell Beckham Jr went down earlier in the season there was a school of thought that said that the Browns season would end there and then but to their credit they have arguably performed better without him. If there is a concern for the Browns then it would come in the fact that nothing about their win last week was convincing but to be fair they were probably under more pressure there than they are here. The Browns can be competitive on both sides of the ball but they’ll need to be here.
Betting
The Cleveland Browns got the better of the Pittsburgh Steelers last week but it was a Steelers side that had no Casey Hayward, TJ Watt and most importantly Ben Roethlisberger so you’ve got to think Pittsburgh will improve some here. Whether Cleveland have any improvement in them is of more debate for a couple of reasons. They used all of those key players last week so fatigue will be natural but more importantly Covid-19 has hit the Browns camp since then.
They will be without their head coach Kevin Stefanski here as he has been forced to remain at home and a couple of key players are also missing out. The Browns will attempt to be competitive and maybe for half or three quarters of the match they will be but come the end I expect the fresher players of the Steelers and their bigger experience of playoff football to have taken their toll and I see the Pittsburgh side covering a 5.5pt spread.
Tips
Back Pittsburgh Steelers (-5.5) to beat Cleveland Browns for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfair
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