NFL Thursday: Flawed rivals Steelers and Browns battle for AFC North lead. Here’s who wins
NFL WEEK 3
GREG COTE’S THURSDAY PICK
STEELERS (1-1) at BROWNS (1-1)
Line: CLE by 4 1/2.
Cote’s pick: CLE, 20-17.
TV: 8:15 p.m. Thursday, Prime Video.
The big thing to watch for Thursday night? You might be looking for whether embattled Mitchell Trubisky can do something to keep his Steelers QB job and stave off the call for rookie Kenny Pickett. Me? I’ll be watching to see if Prime Video can sync up the sound so Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit’s lips aren’t two seconds behind their words like last week. A wide-open AFC North and the first two weeks of this season have told us any attempt to predict NFL games with any real confidence is folly. But we’re back to try! Trubisky catches a break if Cleveland DE Myles Garrett is out. His best hope here is to get RB Najee Harris going, but it’s more likely the Earthtones’ Nick Chubb-led ground attack will bear fruit against a Pitt defense still missing injured star T.J. Watt. Then again, Chubb ran wild last week and his team somehow still managed to blow a 13-point lead with 1:55 left and lose to the Jets. Been that kind of season in this kind of league, and here’s another matchup where no result should surprise in the least. What I feel best about is that Cleveland is giving up a lot of points in a rivalry rematch I see as low-scoring. Steelers are on a 4-0 run in division and find ways to keep games close.
[Note: Betting line courtesy Caesars Sportsbook as of Wednesday afternoon. Picks for remainder of Week 3 games appear online Thursday afternoon and in print Friday] .
This story was originally published September 21, 2022 at 2:39 PM.
