After a slow start to the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have put themselves right back in the AFC North division race and with the team in a three way tie for second place behind the Cincinnati Bengals and that makes Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium very important if the team wants to remain in contention and it starts at 1:00 PM on CBS.
The Steelers have been playing much better lately since starting off 0-4 and after getting through a bye week before winning their first game against the New York Jets and last week they pulled off a big win against the Detroit Lions 37-27 and that was a big game to win for Ben Roethlisberger, as he has been playing better during the second half of the season. Roethlisberger passed for over 360 yards on Sunday while Le'Veon Bell added 49 yards on the ground and after playing against the Browns on Sunday, the team has the Baltimore Ravens in what now is a huge matchup on the road on Thursday night football in the division race. The team is ranked in the top 10 in the league in passing yards per game with Roethlisberger and in the top eight in passing yards allowed per game and they will need to play solid defense against the surprising Browns and heading into the game the Steelers are ranked 30th in the league in rushing yards per game with under 80 yards per contest.
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Roethlisberger has been solid the past few weeks and he has nearly 3,000 yards passing and 17 touchdowns and while the offense has been hurt without Mike Wallace, he hasn't done much in Miami anyway and that could make the team feel a bit better about letting him go and the team now has won four of the past six games apart from two straight losses to the Oakland Raiders and a blowout by the New England Patriots and that matchup was tough for Roethlisberger and the Steelers, as they have up 55 points and now the team has a tough stretch with three division games in four weeks, including two in a row and at 4-6, the team is tied with the Ravens and the Browns, making all those games very crucial.
The rushing attack has not been so great, but Bell has been solid as a rookie with 375 yards and four touchdowns and Antonio Brown has been great along with Emmanuel Sanders, as they have combined for seven touchdowns. Brown has over 70 receptions this season and 952 yards and Sanders comes into the game with 42 receptions for over 500 yards. Those two will need to play well on Sunday and heading into the next stretch after playing the Browns, Ravens, Miami Dolphins and Bengals, the team has a tough road game against the Green Bay Packers and then they finish the season with a home game against the Cleveland Browns and depending on how things shake out, it could have divisional implications, as the Bengals are ahead but not totally safe yet with a 7-4 record.
The Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing an AFC North divisional matchup on Sunday on CBS at 1:00 pm and the game will be at FirstEnergy Stadium and is a big divisional game on the NFL schedule.