Garrett Bush of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show and Jeff Lloyd of the Locked On Browns Podcast Preview Thursday Night Football Browns vs Steelers: Preview and Prediction. They are also joined by Chris Carter of the Locked On Steelers Podcast as part of the Locked On NFL Crossover.

The events that took place within the final two-minute warning led to the worst collapse in recent NFL history... since the last historic collapse the Browns suffered against the Chicago Bears in Week 9 of the 2001 season. "Fire Joe Woods" was trending on Twitter as Browns fans tried to come to grips with what they had witnessed after many left the stadium early up 13 with less than two minutes to play. Where does the defense go from here? How do they regroup on a short week against a division rival? Here are three keys to success for the Browns defense against the Pittsburgh Steelers:

1. Communication, Communication, Communication

Maybe the most obvious of the keys but undoubtedly the most important. The Browns will going into Thursday's game without one of the most important players on their defense after Jadeveon Clowney left Sunday's game with an ankle injury (he has been ruled out for Thursday). News broke Tuesday that Myles Garrett was dealing with a neck injury that forced him out of Tuesday's practice, although the club has since confirmed he is expected to be available Thursday night.

Losing even one pass rusher could spell disaster if the secondary doesn't get on the same page, even against a struggling Mitch Trubisky leading the Steelers' offense. Thirty-seven-year-old Joe Flacco hadn't won a game in the NFL since 2019 and received boo birds of his own from the hometown Jets crowd in Week 1. They were throwing roses at his feet after what the Browns' defense allowed him to do on Sunday.

There is too much talent in the secondary for them to perform this way. Maybe our expectations were too high when they were anointed the next top five defense in the NFL, but it wasn't because of hope alone. There was good reason to believe in a defense lead by two Pro Bowlers and a host of young talent on the rise around them.

2. Block out external noise

What's done is done. The good news in all of the negative press and reaction to the blown coverages and miscommunication is that the problems are absolutely able to be fixed. It's a quick turnaround this week, which may prove to be exactly what they need. No time to rest on their laurels; they will have had three days to get things right. The defense even held a players-only meeting at some point in the days following the Jets loss to get on the same page.

3. (Finally a positive) Continue to stifle the opponent's rushing attack

Lost in the controversy is the fact that the Browns defense has held the Panthers and Jets' running games in check through the first two weeks of the season. They held one of the most talented backs in the league, Christian McCaffrey, to just 33 yards on the ground, 54 total for the entire Panthers offense. Similarly, they held the Jets to under 100 yards rushing, with the tandem of Breece Hall and Michael Carter combining for 73 yards.

#browns #tfn #thursdaynightfootball #steelers #Cleveland #pittsburgh

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