B6SPORTS

Page B6 THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT Sunday, December 1, 2019 1 p.m.

@ WRKW 99.1 FM WBVE 107.5 FM Heinz Field – WLLI 990 AM WNTJ 1490 AM KDKA, WTAJ Hodgeball True underduck story of Steelers’ continues with start vs. Browns

t may not have been a decision “I was undrafted. that, I think. I tend to believe that made in the interests of the That is something The series we should all feel like that in our Ilongterm future of the Pittsburgh I have always own way. It’s not a right to be here. Steelers in mind, but Sunday’s been. I have All-time (including playoffs): It’s a privilege and an honor and rematch with the always been Steelers lead 75-59-1 you’ve got to respect that process. I will mark the second start of Devlin calm, cool, col- think if everyone addressed it like Hodges’ NFL career. lected. I think Betting line/total: Cleveland that in general, I think you’d always Then again, if Hodges a lot of that -1.5/39.5 points have that same feeling.” has been deemed as the comes from While popular sentiment seems to signal caller who gives getting prepared SHAWN CURTIS All-time in Pittsburgh: side with Hodges, and his fledgling the Steelers the best and being [email protected] Browns lead 47-21 cult-hero status amongst fans, his chance to win Sunday’s prepared. coach didn’t seem too committal on game as they battle When Nov. 14 – a night where he threw Current streak: Browns, one the topic of keeping the rookie under for a playoff spot you four – and in Week 12 win center as the Steelers push through in a wide-open got against where he was 8 of the remainder of this season. AFC race, his some 16 for 85 yards and a pick before get- Last Steelers win in Pitts- “We’re putting pieces together on future may guys ting the hook. burgh: Oct. 28, 2018 – Steel- a week-by-week basis because of align with While Pittsburgh didn’t set the ers 33-18 the adversity that the game pres- the franchise’s around world ablaze once Hodges was in, he ents,” coach said. “With future in a post- me that did pass for 115 yards as Last Browns win in Pitts- players being available to us or not are as picked up crucial yardage and first burgh: Oct. 5, 2003 – Browns available to us, and so we’re singly world. good downs late. 33-13 focused on winning this game or It’s a lot of pressure as they The offense just felt calmer with putting ourselves in position to win to put on the undraft- are and Hodges at the helm. Could it be that this game.” ed quarterback from can Hodges is a calming influence in a That at-ease personality hasn’t And what expectations are there Sanford, but the block huddle with all sorts of unplanned gone unnoticed. for Hodges on Sunday? 23-year-old affec- up front personnel handling key tasks? “Well, he plays with a lot of con- “There’s going to be enough pres- tionately known and make “I think so. You will have to ask fidence for sure,” Steelers offensive sure on Devlin just performing, so as “Duck” the catch- them,” Hodges said. “They might coordinator Randy Fichtner said. I’m not going to add to it by talking thanks to a es and run the tell you more than I know, but I feel “You wouldn’t be able to tell he’s expectations,” Tomlin said. “I expect duck-calling ball, it makes like that. I know that they have seen from a small school. It’s not like him to not kill us.” champion- my me win a game and I know that they playing against big schools when he ship won in job know that I can get the job done. I was at the small school. I think he Shawn Curtis is the sports editor of his youth a lot know you have talked to some of plays with a sense of ease. I think he The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him isn’t the easier.” the defense guys that I compete plays with a sense of rhythm. He’s on Twitter @shawncurtis430. type to It was Hodges against each and every been good when we asked him to be sweat who came in relief of day in scout team for us.” such an ineffective Mason and now going Fichtner also was prompt to cite things. Rudolph a week against them in Hodges’ career history as a positive An attitude ago as the Steel- a couple of the in the quarterback’s development. of play- ing on ers offense spit “I don’t know, maybe it’s house money and sputtered its because he has been extends way to a 16-10 overlooked itself to an extra win over the and he layer of coolness winless in tight situa- Ben- tions. feels “I gals. His like think a 79-yard touch- lot down toss to James of Washington led to Pitts- it is burgh’s only trip to the end I don’t zone as they overcame a 7-3 Ben- periods each have any- gals lead. week. They know I can he’s the thing to With Rudolph’s get the job done and I underdog, and what does lose,” Hodg- struggles in a loss know I can and just ready to he have to lose?” Fichtner said. “I es said. to Cleveland on go do it.” don’t know. You’d have to ask ‘Duck’

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS quarterback Devlin Hodges (left) eludes the grasp of defensive end Sam Hubbard during their game on Nov. 24 in Cincinnati. Keep your eyes on these Browns ... – DT – QB Odell Beckham Jr. – WR If a Browns player is watched closer by Steelers Mayfield wasn’t amazing against Pittsburgh, but His 42-yard catch on the Browns’ opening drive fans than Ogunjobi on Sunday, it will be an upset. he was plenty good enough, passing for 193 yards of their first meeting against Pittsburgh showed Ogunjobi’s blindside shove of Mason Rudolph and two . the kind of night that it was going to be for the during the Nov. 14 fracas between the teams in Mix that into his numbers during the Browns’ cur- Steelers. Cleveland’s splashiest acquisition from the Cleveland earned him a one-game suspension, mean- rent three-game winning streak, and it appears that offseason has been consistently solid, averaging ing that he missed the Browns’ win over Miami this Mayfield is starting to find that form expected of 70.5 receiving yards per game on just under five past week but will be in uniform on Sunday. him when Cleveland entered 2019 with the highest of snags per contest. He did pick up a sack against Pittsburgh in that expectations. His 7:1 -to- ratio Beckham is on pace for 1,128 yards after 11 games, Nov. 14 meeting. Myles Garrett’s absence may not during that span has been critical for a team bitten which would be second on the team to Jarvis be beneficial to any Cleveland pass rusher, given the by the turnover bug in losses big and small over Landry’s pace for 1,226 yards. Keeping the clamps attention that can now be spread to other defenders. their 2-6 start. on both wideouts will be tricky. THE KEY MATCHUPS Devlin Hodges vs. Browns pass rush Pending injury or a total disaster, Mason Rudolph’s role in Sunday’s highly anticipated rematch will be contained to the sidelines. What that means is that Hodges, who has looked OK at times in action spread out over three games, will face a Cleveland pass rush that made Rudolph’s night miserable on Nov. 14 with four sacks. Myles Garrett obviously won’t be in action on Sunday, but Larry Ogunjobi will be there along with a front seven that looked sharp without Gar- rett or Ogunjobi – nabbing four more sacks – in a win over the Dol- phins this past Sunday. Hodges’ ability to buy himself a second or two Roster Roster more in the pocket might prove to be his saving grace on Sunday. Name ...... Pos Ht. Wt. 51 Wilson, Mack ...... LB 6’1” 233 Name ...... Pos Ht. Wt. 44 Matakevich, Tyler . . . . . ILB 6’1” 235 3 Gilbert, Garrett ...... QB 6’4” 230 51 Davis, Tae ...... LB 6’1” 224 2 Rudolph, Mason ...... QB 6’5” 235 48 Dupree, Bud ...... OLB 6’4” 269 4 Seibert, Austin ...... K 5’9” 211 53 Schobert, Joe ...... MLB 6’1” 245 4 Berry, Jordan ...... P 6’5” 195 51 Skipper, Tuzar ...... LB 6’3” 246 6 Mayfield, Baker ...... QB 6’1” 215 54 Vernon, Olivier ...... DE 6’2” 262 5 Lynch, Paxton ...... QB 6’7” 244 55 Bush, Devin ...... LB 5’11” 234 Denzel Ward 7 Gillan, Jamie ...... P 6’1” 207 57 Taylor, Adarius ...... OLB 6’0” 230 6 Hodges, Devlin ...... QB 6’1” 210 56 Chickillo, Anthony . . . . . LB 6’3” 255 10 Taylor, Taywan ...... WR 5’11” 205 58 Gustin, Porter ...... LB 6’5” 267 9 Boswell, Chris ...... K 6’2” 185 57 Canaday, Kameron . . . . .LS 6’4” 245 12 Hodge, KhaDarel ...... WR 6’2” 205 64 Tretter, JC ...... C 6’4” 307 13 Washington, James . . . . .WR 5’11” 213 62 Morris, Patrick ...... C 6’3” 300 vs. James Washington 13 Beckham, Odell ...... WR 5’11” 198 65 Ogunjobi, Larry ...... DT 6’3” 305 14 Jones, Tevin ...... WR 6’2” 225 66 DeCastro, David ...... OG 6’5” 316 18 Ratley, Damion ...... WR 6’2” 200 67 McCray, Justin ...... OT 6’3” 315 17 Cain, Deon ...... WR 6’2” 202 67 Finney, B.J...... OG 6’4” 318 By proxy of JuJu Smith-Schuster’s absence, Washington should 20 Thomas, Tavierre ...... CB 5’10” 205 70 Lamm, Kendall ...... OT 6’5” 310 18 Johnson, Diontae ...... WR 5’10” 183 71 Feiler, Matt ...... OT 6’6” 330 see a lot of man-coverage reps against Ward. Diontae Johnson’s 21 Ward, Denzel ...... CB 5’11” 190 72 Kush, Eric ...... OG 6’4” 317 19 Smith-Schuster, JuJu . . . . WR 6’1” 215 72 Banner, Zach ...... OT 6’8” 360 22 Murray, Eric ...... SS 5’11” 199 74 Hubbard, Chris ...... OT 6’4” 295 20 Sutton, Cameron ...... CB 5’11” 188 73 Foster, Ramon ...... OG 6’5” 328 presence should take the pressure off Washington to be the Steel- 23 Randall, Damarious . . . . . FS 5’11” 196 75 Bitonio, Joel ...... OG 6’4” 320 22 Nelson, Steven ...... CB 5’11” 194 76 Okorafor, Chukwuma . . . . OT 6’6” 320 ers’ chief pass-catcher, especially after his three-catch, 98-yard 24 Chubb, Nick ...... RB 5’11” 227 77 Teller, Wyatt ...... OG 6’4” 315 23 Haden, Joe ...... CB 5’10” 224 78 Villanueva, Alejandro ...... OT 6’9” 320 25 Hilliard, Dontrell ...... RB 5’11” 202 78 Robinson, Greg ...... OT 6’5” 330 25 Burns, Artie ...... CB 6’0” 197 79 Hargrave, Javon ...... NT 6’2” 305 effort against Cincinnati a week ago. Washington has started to find 26 Williams, Greedy ...... CB 6’2” 185 79 Forbes, Drew ...... OT 6’5” 308 26 Barron, Mark ...... ILB 6’2” 230 80 Holton, Johnny ...... WR 6’3” 190 27 Hunt, Kareem ...... RB 5’11” 216 80 Landry, Jarvis ...... WR 5’11” 196 28 Hilton, Mike ...... CB 5’9” 184 81 Gentry, Zach ...... TE 6’8” 265 more of a rhythm in the Pittsburgh offense, and may have unlocked 29 Redwine, Sheldrick . . . . .DB 6’0” 196 81 Higgins, Rashard ...... WR 6’1” 198 29 Kelly, Kam ...... DB 6’2” 205 88 Vannett, Nick ...... TE 6’6” 261 a second gear with Hodges getting the keys on Sunday against the 30 Johnson, D’Ernest . . . . . RB 5’10” 208 83 Seals-Jones, Ricky . . . . .TE 6’5” 243 30 Conner, James ...... RB 6’1” 233 89 McDonald, Vance ...... TE 6’4” 267 31 Burris, Juston ...... CB 6’0” 212 86 Brown, Pharaoh ...... TE 6’6” 258 31 Layne, Justin ...... CB 6’2” 192 90 Watt, T.J...... OLB 6’4” 252 Browns. 34 Jackson, Robert ...... DB 6’2” 207 88 Harris, Demetrius . . . . . TE 6’7” 230 33 Edmunds, Trey ...... RB 6’2” 223 92 Adeniyi, Ola ...... LB 6’1” 248 38 Carrie, T.J...... DB 6’0” 204 89 Carlson, Stephen ...... TE 6’4” 240 34 Edmunds, Terrell ...... SS 6’1” 217 93 McCullers-Sanders, Dan . . .DT 6’7” 352 39 Mitchell, Terrance . . . . . CB 5’11” 191 90 Bryant, Brandin ...... DT 6’2” 289 37 Dangerfield, Jordan . . . . DB 5’11” 199 94 Alualu, Tyson ...... DE 6’3” 304 44 Takitaki, Sione ...... LB 6’1” 238 91 Ankou, Eli ...... DT 6’3” 325 38 Samuels, Jaylen ...... RB 6’0” 225 96 Buggs, Isaiah ...... DT 6’3” 295 THE PREDICTION 47 Hughlett, Charley . . . . . LS 6’4” 248 92 Thomas, Chad ...... DE 6’5” 278 39 Fitzpatrick, Minkah . . . . . FS 6’1” 207 97 Heyward, Cameron . . . . .DE 6’5” 295 49 Hassell, J.T...... DB 5’11” 200 94 Cox, Bryan ...... DE 6’3” 270 40 Whyte, Kerrith ...... RB 5’10” 204 98 Williams, Vince ...... ILB 6’1” 233 50 Smith, Chris ...... DE 6’1” 266 98 Richardson, Sheldon . . . . DT 6’3” 294 41 Spillane, Robert ...... LB 6’1” 229 Browns 15, Steelers 10 Seventeen days before Sunday, Cleveland bullied a seemingly disinter- ested Pittsburgh team for 60 minutes to snag its first win in the series 2019 Schedule 2019 Schedule since 2014. In the time since that 21-7 win, very little talk has been spent on the game itself, but more on the end-of-game brawl and the fallout Sept. 8...... Tennessee...... L 43-13 Sept. 8...... at New England...... L 33-3 Sept. 16...... at N.Y. Jets...... W 23-3 Sept. 15...... Seattle...... L 28-26 involving Garrett, Rudolph, Rudolph’s helmet, Maurkice Pouncey and a long Sept. 22...... L.A. Rams...... L 20-13 Sept. 22...... at San Francisco...... L 24-20 list of fines. Sept. 29...... at Baltimore...... W 40-25 Sept. 30...... Cincinnati...... W 27-3 Oct. 6...... at San Francisco...... L 31-3 Oct. 6...... Baltimore...... L 26-23 (OT) While the Browns hammered the Dolphins, the Steelers’ offense strug- Oct. 13...... Seattle...... L 32-28 Oct. 13...... at L.A. Chargers...... W 24-17 gled a bit against Cincinnati, Hodges’ 79-yard touchdown toss to Washing- Oct. 27...... at New England...... L 27-13 Oct. 28...... Miami...... W 27-14 ton aside. Nov. 3...... at Denver...... L 24-19 Nov. 3...... Indianapolis...... W 26-24 Nov. 10...... Buffalo...... W 19-16 Nov. 10...... L.A. Rams...... W 17-12 Georgraphy and divisional alignment has made this a rivalry, a Cleve- Nov. 14...... Pittsburgh...... W 21-7 Nov. 14...... at Cleveland...... L 21-7 land sweep – the first since 1988 – would add a fire desperately missing Nov. 24...... Miami...... W 41-24 Nov. 24...... at Cincinnati...... W 16-10 Dec. 1...... at Pittsburgh...... 1 p.m. Dec. 1...... Cleveland...... 1 p.m. from the on-field product. Dec. 8...... Cincinnati...... 1 p.m. Dec. 8...... at Arizona...... 4:25 p.m. Pittsburgh won’t get pushed around like in Cleveland, but the Browns Dec. 15...... at Arizona...... 4:05 p.m. Dec. 15...... Buffalo...... 1 p.m. Dec. 22...... Baltimore...... 1 p.m. Dec. 22...... at N.Y. Jets...... 1 p.m. will do just enough. Dec. 29...... at Cincinnati...... 1 p.m. Dec. 29...... at Baltimore...... 1 p.m. - Shawn Curtis