2009 Week 6 NFL Free Pick

By Adam Barone

 There’s a better chance the Steelers will bludgeon the Browns this weekend than there is that you’ll be brain-raped with unwanted information on John Gosselin. No, that’s not an exaggeration. The Steelers might be a safe play here at -100, but only give the 14. Okay, so that part is an exaggeration.

      Don’t be fooled by the Steelers not blowing out the underrated Lions last week or by the Browns beating the overrated Bills. These teams will show their true colors in week six.

      The Browns undoubtedly saw Braylon Edwards perform like a superstar for the Jets last Monday night without having time to learn the playbook. That’s depressing for them. Chansi Stuckey will probably fall just a little bit short of replacing Edwards as the team’s franchise player. That’s also depressing. Stuckey will get to showcase his extremely average skills against rejuvenated Steelers’ safety Troy Polamalu. Okay, just hand out Prozac on the plane. Polamalu has practiced all week and will get his first start since week one. Running back Willie Parker’s turf toe is also healed enough for him to play but not start, giving the Steelers a two-pronged ground attack featuring Parker and Rashard Mendenhall. Mendenhall has accumulated 242 rushing yards in two games while starting in Parker’s absence.

      The Browns are last in the league against the run, allowing 170.4 yards per game. We just thought we’d throw that out there.

      Browns running back Jamal Lewis rumbled 31 times in Buffalo last week for a surprising 117 yards. He had the privilege of facing the league’s fourth-worst rush defense (154.6 yards per game allowed) in that game. The Steelers, however, allow just 71.2 ground yards per contest, good for second fewest in the league. Good luck to Mr. Lewis, as he’s averaged a not-so-sexy 58.4 yards per game against Pittsburgh in his career. That includes his time in Baltimore, when he was significantly less old and mediocre.

      So the Browns should pass instead, right? Er…no. Their starting quarterback, Derek Anderson, completed two of 17 passes against Buffalo and now has a quarterback rating of 39.0 on the season. His receiving options include Stuckey, rookies Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi, kick return specialist Joshua Cribbs, old white guy Mike Furrey, and tight ends Robert Royal and Steve Heiden. Raise your hand if you didn’t just throw up in your mouth.

      To sum it up: the Steelers are back at full strength with the return of two stars, and the Browns likely want to commit mass suicide.

      For those of you who like numbers, we’ll lock this one down with some shiny trends…in paragraph form:

       The Browns have covered one of their last five against the AFC North, while the Steelers have covered five of six. The Browns are 1-5 against the spread in their last six road games and their last six as a road dog, while the Steelers are 6-1 in their last seven at home and as home favorites. The favorite is 7-2-1 against the spread in their last ten meetings overall, the Browns are 1-4 against the spread in their last five in Pittsburgh, and Cleveland is 2-8-1 against the spread in their last eleven meetings overall.

      Seriously, what else do you need? This is not going to be pretty.

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