What to watch for, presented by House of Blues

10.13.2009

The Browns are in Pittsburgh Sunday for their fourth road game of the year. The Browns are 55-57-0 all-time against the Steelers, but 21-35 in Pittsburgh. The Browns last defeated the Steelers on October 5, 2003, in a nationally-televised game in Heinz Field.

As the game unfolds, here are several things to keep an eye on:

Browns running back Jamal Lewis. After missing 2 games, Lewis reemerged with a 31-carry, 117-yard performance against the Bills in Buffalo. Lewis now has 36 career 100-yard rushing games and 10,319 rush yards. Lewis passed Ottis Anderson for 23rd on the NFL's all-time rushing list. He is 122 yards away from tying Eddie George for 22nd place and 130 away from Tiki Barber's mark of 10,449 yards.

Lewis' 117-yard game against Buffalo came a week after Jerome Harrison ran for 121 yards against the Bengals. It was the first time the Browns had a 100-yard rusher in back-to-back games since Lewis ran for 118 yards at the Jets on December 9, 2007 and 163 against Buffalo on December 16, 2007.

Lewis has 271 carries for 934 yards in his career against the Steelers, including a 114-yard, 1-touchdown game on December 28, 2003.

Fifth-year wide receiver/return specialist Joshua Cribbs. With 60 yards on kickoff returns Sunday, Cribbs has 6,029 for his career. Cribbs has 20 kickoff returns this season and leads the NFL with 522 return yards. He is averaging 26.1 yards-per-return.

Cribbs, who also leads the NFL in punt return yards, is 1 return touchdown away from passing Eric Metcalf for the franchise's all-time lead. In his career, Cribbs has 5 kick and 2 punt returns for touchdowns.

On November 11, 2007, Cribbs returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. It was the longest return of his career and second return touchdown against the Steelers. He has 30 kickoff returns for 794 yards and 2 touchdowns against Pittsburgh.

Defensive back Hank Poteat. Poteat, an 8-year NFL veteran, will play in his 100th career game Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh. It will be a significant and unique accomplishment for Poteat.

Poteat was born in Harrisburg and went to The University of Pittsburgh. He was originally drafted by the Steelers in 2000 and spent 3 seasons with them before going to the Buccaneers, Patriots and Jets.

Outside linebacker Kamerion Wimbley. With his second quarter sack of Trent Edwards on third-and-16, Wimbley now has a team-leading 4 quarterback sacks this season. His 4 sacks are tied with Oakland's Greg Ellis, New Orleans' Charles Grant, Seattle's Lawrence Jackson and Baltimore's Jarret Johnson for ninth in the NFL.

It was the third time in his career and first since his rookie season where Wimbley has had at least a half sack in three consecutive games.

Inside linebacker D'Qwell Jackson. Jackson had 13 total tackles, including 9 solo stops in the win over Buffalo Sunday. He is second in the league in tackles, trailing Cleveland native/Redskins linebacker London Fletcher. Fletcher has 59 tackles heading into Week Six.

In 5 games against the Steelers, Jackson has 38 tackles.

Linebacker/special teams ace Blake Costanzo. After spending two years on Buffalo's roster, Costanzo came up with the play of the day against his old team Sunday. Costanzo recovered a Roscoe Parrish fumble on a punt return, which set up Billy Cundiff's game-winning field goal with 23 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Derek Anderson. In his career against the Steelers, Anderson is 68-of-132 (51.5 percent) for 749 yards and 5 touchdowns against 4 interceptions. Anderson's best game in terms of yardage against the Steelers came on December 7, 2006 when he completed 21-of-37 passes for 276 yards and 1 touchdown. On November 11, 2007, Anderson completed just 16-of-35 passes for 123 yards, but threw for 3 touchdowns in a 31-28 loss at Pittsburgh.

Tight end Steve Heiden. After a 7-yard reception in the third quarter Sunday, Heiden needs just one more catch to reach 200 for his career. Heiden is 335 receiving yards away from 2,000.

Kicker Phil Dawson. Though he missed the last three games, Dawson is tied with Don Cockroft for second place on the Browns' all-time field goals list. Dawson's 216 field goals are 18 away from Lou Groza's all-time Browns record.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. This season, Roethlisberger has 8 touchdowns against 5 interceptions. Over the last 2 games, Roethlisberger has completed 49-of-63 passes for 610 yards and 5 touchdowns. He has been intercepted just once since the Steelers' 1-2 start.

The Steelers defense. They allow 290.8 yards-per-game, the fifth-lowest amount in the NFL. The Steelers are third in the NFL in rush defense, allowing 71.2 yards-per-game on the ground.

The Browns head to Pittsburgh at 1-4 after a last-minute win over the Bills. Cundiff kicked an 18-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to seal the Browns' first win under head coach Eric Mangini. The Steelers are 3-2 overall after back-to-back wins against the Chargers and at the Lions.

CONNECTIONS

Browns defensive back Anthony Madison and offensive lineman Hank Fraley were both signed by the Steelers as undrafted free agents. While Fraley never played in a regular season game for the Steelers, Madison spent 3 seasons on Pittsburgh's practice squad and active roster.

Roethlisberger (Findlay/Miami University) and defensive back Keiwan Ratliff (Youngstown/Whitehall-Yearling High School) are Ohio natives. One of Rothlisberger's favorite targets, Santonio Holmes, grew up in Florida but played college football at The Ohio State University.

Former Brown Nick Eason (2004-06) backs up Brett Keisel at right defensive end for the Steelers. Eason totaled 44 tackles, including 27 solo efforts during his stint with the Browns. Eason also defended 2 passes and forced 1 fumble in the Orange and Brown.

Browns tight end Robert Royal and Steelers free safety Ryan Clark played together at Louisiana State University. They also spent the 2005 season together with the Redskins.

Cribbs played with Steelers linebacker James Harrison (Akron/Coventry High School) at Kent State University.

MEDIA

Fans can watch Sunday's game at 1:00pm ET on local CBS affiliate WOIO-TV 19. Kevin Harlan (play-by-play) and Solomon Wilcots (analyst) will be in the booth.

The game is also available along the Browns Radio Network with Jim Donovan, Doug Dieken and sideline reporter Andre Knott on the call.