Myles Garrett absence will bring different feel to Steelers' rematch with Browns

The NFL made sure two of the three main participants in the fight near the end of the first meeting between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns wouldn’t play in the rematch Sunday at Heinz Field.

Mason Rudolph perhaps took the third participant out of the equation with his play against the Cincinnati Bengals that led to his benching in the second half.

If Devlin Hodges returns at quarterback, after guiding the Steelers to 13 second-half points in a 16-10 win at Cincinnati, Rudolph at least will be on the sideline and prepared to enter the game in case of injury or ineffectiveness.

Browns defensive end Myles Garrett and Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey won’t have that luxury. In fact, they won’t even be allowed inside the stadium. Garrett won’t suit up for the rest of the season — and maybe beyond — and Pouncey will finish up the second of his two-game suspension.

Who will benefit the most in the rematch? It could be the Steelers (6-5) despite opening as home underdogs to the Browns (5-6) for the first time since the 1989 season opener.

“Let’s be real,” outside linebacker Bud Dupree said. “Garrett not playing is great. Throw away everything that happened between him and Mason. Garrett is a special-type player. When he’s not on the field, it’s a big difference. We have to capitalize on that.”

The Miami Dolphins, who are tied for the NFL’s second-worst record at 2-9, couldn’t capitalize on it Sunday in the Browns’ first game without the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Miami fell behind by four touchdowns in the first half and didn’t find the end zone until the third quarter in a 41-24 loss at Cleveland.

Minus Garrett and fellow defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi, who was serving his one-game suspension for shoving a helmet-less Rudolph to the ground, the Browns still managed four sacks, seven tackles for loss and six quarterback hits. Sheldon Richardson started at defensive tackle and had two sacks.

Garrett, a 2018 second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection, leads the Browns with 10 sacks. Ogunjobi has five, including one in the Nov. 14 game against the Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium. He will be back Sunday.

“Larry will be ready to play,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said in a conference call Monday with Browns reporters. “He has been playing well for us during the course of the year and had a good game against Pittsburgh the last time. … I expect him to be ready to play.”

Ogunjobi’s presence could provide a reminder of the late-game shenanigans in Cleveland provided the Steelers aren’t focused on the bigger task at hand, which is maintaining the No. 6 spot in the AFC playoff race. A loss would put the Steelers in danger of missing the postseason for the second year in a row.

“We’re not concerned with that,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said about leftover animosity from the fight. “They beat us. We’re looking to get a ‘W.’ That’s it.”

Kitchens also doesn’t want the repercussions of the fight to stick with his players as they try to get back to .500 after a 2-6 start.

“I want them to go in with one thing and one thing only in their minds, and that is to do their job,” Kitchens said. “Anything that overshadows that in any way is not acceptable, and it is not the best for the team. I want guys to show up ready to do their job. All of that other stuff is fluff.”

The Steelers not only weathered Pouncey’s absence against the Bengals, the offensive line paved the way for a season-high 160-yard rushing performance with B.J. Finney at center. That helped offset the continued struggles at quarterback that led to Rudolph’s benching early in the third quarter.

For the fourth consecutive game, the offense scored just one touchdown, and it relied on kicker Chris Boswell and two fourth-quarter turnovers by the defense for the Steelers to win for the fifth time in the past six games.

Style points didn’t matter against Cincinnati, and they won’t come into play if the Steelers can avoid being swept in the season series by the Browns for the first time since 1988.

“They never matter,” Heyward said. “We’re not in the BCS or college playoff. We’re trying to win games.”

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