Steelers defender called out Browns’ Jared Verse after Week 8’s game, and its hard to blame him
Jared Verse did some talking ahead of the Browns’ Week 8 game against the Steelers. However, Pittsburgh got the final word and they’re making it known.
The Cleveland Browns are 5-3 after a disappointing 27-6 blowout loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road in Week 8. Cleveland had an opportunity to move to 6-2 with a win in Pittsburgh. Beating the Steelers on their own turf has been hard for the Browns over the years, and that trend held up on Sunday.
The result went the opposite way of what Browns defensive end Jared Verse expected. His comments before the game have now become a big part of the story coming out of Week 8.
Jared Verse’s pregame message didn’t hold up
Ahead of the game, Verse fired a bit of a shot at the Steelers and Pittsburgh defensive tackle Cam Heyward.
“I’m not worried about Cam, I’m not worried about their O-line, I’m not worried about nobody they got on their team,” Verse said. “We out there to go dominate, about to make Pittsburgh ours on Sunday.”
That isn’t what happened, and the Browns missed their chance to get to 6-2 as a result. The overall yardage was close, with Pittsburgh outgaining Cleveland 361 yards to 319 yards. The problems showed up in other areas.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson was sacked eight times. Additionally, the Browns’ defense gave up 200 rushing yards, which continues to show that Cleveland has one of the worst run defenses in the NFL. A team that gives up that many yards on the ground and allows that many sacks isn’t going to win many road games against a division rival.
Steelers safety Jaquan Brisker fires back at Verse
After the game, Steelers players made it clear they heard Verse talking earlier in the week. Pittsburgh starting safety Jaquan Brisker sent quite the message toward the Browns defensive end.
“He should have kept his mouth shut. All that talking and then to come out with zero tackles. You didn’t stand on business. He gotta look at himself in the mirror and get better,” Brisker said.
Brisker is right about the box score. Verse didn’t show up on the stat sheet against Pittsburgh, and that has been a common occurrence this season.
Cleveland hoped Verse could be a breakout player for the defense. He recorded at least seven sacks in each of his last two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams before the Browns traded for him in the Myles Garrett deal. However, Verse has yet to record a sack in a Cleveland uniform, and it’s been a rough eight games for him with his new team.
Browns have to regroup after their worst loss since Week 1
As far as Steelers players firing off messages like this toward Verse, it’s hard to blame them. Verse put a target on himself with his pregame comments, and Pittsburgh’s defense and offense both backed up their side of the argument on the field.
That’s how the NFL goes. It’s a week-to-week league, and the Browns had felt good after winning recently. Now Cleveland is coming off a blowout and feels the worst it has since losing in similar fashion to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1.
The Browns still sit at 5-3, so there’s plenty of football left to turn this around. Fixing the run defense and protecting Watson have to be priorities, and Verse getting on the board with his first sack in Cleveland would go a long way toward quieting the noise. Time will tell whether this loss is a one-week stumble or something bigger for the Browns.
