WEEK 3 · FINAL
THE READ
Browns beat Steelers, 21-16
Browns got it done 21-16 over Steelers. Ty Simpson threw for Browns — 19/23, 229 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT. Jaylen Warren did the catching for Steelers — 1 catches, 65 yards, 1 TD — in a losing effort. Kewan Lacy has not had a better afternoon this season. Through the air: Browns 229, Steelers 188.
The Wire · league beat
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Browns | +5.3 | +0.5 | +4.8 | +11 |
| Steelers | -11.8 | -1.3 | -10.5 | -5 |
SRS is how many points a side beats an
average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good
team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20.
SOS is how hard that schedule has been.
Full table.
Browns —
AFC #3 · division
· 6-3
Playoff picture →
IN THE BOOTH
Zoe Bell
The contrarian
Pittsburgh came in trying to run the ball—77 yards on the ground versus Cleveland's 36—and still lost by 5 to a team that threw it 23 times; the Steelers' defense generated nothing (0 sacks) while their offense coughed it up clean, which is exactly how you don't beat a team that's 9.5 points better than you on paper.
They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers —
none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that
did not happen.
Ty Simpson
Browns
19/23, 229 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
Jaylen Warren
Steelers
1 catches, 65 yards, 1 TD
Emeka Egbuka
Browns
6 catches, 108 yards
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
Through the air
Browns 229, Steelers 188
Browns
On the ground
Steelers 77, Browns 36
Steelers
Giveaways
Steelers 0, Browns 1
Steelers
Pressure
Steelers 0 sacks, Browns 1
Browns
THE ROOM
Final. The recap is below.
THE MATCHUP SCOUT
every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 66% · Rush 34% · 28.3 scored, 23.6 allowed
8.0 yds/att
60.1% completions
6.3 yds/carry
315.6 yds/game
1.2 giveaways/game
7.0% sack rate
last 5: 2-3
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 63 · Efficient
Balance 84
Ball security 66
Back usage 29%
QB runs 2.0/game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 80
WR 81
TE 82
RB 84
OL 80
DL 82
LB 83
DB 82
Best: Jared Verse REDG 90
Fastest: Evan Stewart WR 94 SPD
5 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 61% · Rush 39% · 16.9 scored, 27.4 allowed
6.8 yds/att
57.9% completions
4.5 yds/carry
290.4 yds/game
1.2 giveaways/game
6.3% sack rate
last 5: 0-5
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 49 · Conservative
Balance 89
Ball security 66
Back usage 34%
QB runs 2.8/game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 94
WR 84
TE 80
RB 84
OL 80
DL 86
LB 78
DB 86
Best: Matthew Stafford QB 94
Fastest: DK Metcalf WR 94 SPD
5 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
HOW THEY PLAY
the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
jakber
Browns · his last 8 games
Throws it
Pass / run69% / 31%
Points for / against25.1 — 23.5
Margin+1.6
Giveaways a game1.2
Sacks taken7.5% of dropbacks
Lead backQuinshon Judkins · 8.0/g
Top targetEmeka Egbuka · 30%
QB carries1.8 a game
Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES
unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Browns receivers vs Steelers secondary
81 v 86
STEELERS
Steelers receivers vs Browns secondary
84 v 82
EVEN
Browns line vs Steelers front
80 v 86
STEELERS
Steelers line vs Browns front
80 v 82
EVEN
Browns backs vs Steelers run defence
84 v 83
EVEN
Steelers backs vs Browns run defence
84 v 83
EVEN
Browns passer vs Steelers secondary
80 v 86
STEELERS
Steelers passer vs Browns secondary
94 v 82
STEELERS
TOP PERFORMERS
🎬
The Game Recapthis game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
BROWNS
STEELERS
BROWNS
STEELERS
BROWNS
STEELERS
BROWNS
STEELERS
BROWNS
STEELERS
BROWNS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ty Simpson QB | 19/23 | 229 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 129.6 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Stafford QB | 11/18 | 188 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 65 | 133.5 |
BROWNS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ty Simpson QB | 3 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0 |
| Quinshon Judkins HB | 5 | 17 | 3.4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
| Antwan Raymond HB | 3 | 1 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Emeka Egbuka WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kewan Lacy HB | 14 | 77 | 5.5 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 34 | 0 |
BROWNS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emeka Egbuka WR | 6 | 108 | 18 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 38 |
| Ian Strong WR | 4 | 54 | 13.5 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 25 |
| Trey'Dez Green TE | 3 | 23 | 7.7 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 14 |
| KC Concepcion Jr WR | 2 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 |
| Quinshon Judkins HB | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 13 |
| Antwan Raymond HB | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaylen Warren HB | 1 | 65 | 65 | 1 | 44 | 0 | 65 |
| Josh Downs WR | 3 | 35 | 11.7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 14 |
| Kewan Lacy HB | 3 | 34 | 11.3 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 24 |
| Darnell Washington TE | 1 | 21 | 21 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 21 |
| DK Metcalf WR | 1 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 16 |
| Pat Freiermuth TE | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 10 |
| Michael Pittman WR | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
BROWNS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grant Delpit SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mason Graham DT | 3 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carson Schwesinger MIKE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ronnie Hickman FS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arnold Ebiketie LEDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D'Angelo Ponds CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Emmanuel McNeil-Warren FS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Thomas Harper SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Wright LEDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jared Verse REDG | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Sainristil CB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Queen MIKE | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jalen Ramsey FS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Poona Ford DT | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaquan Brisker SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joey Porter CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Derrick Harmon DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeShon Elliott SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Highsmith REDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BROWNS
nothing recorded
STEELERS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Boswell K | 1/1 | 1/2 | 39 |
RECENT FORM
Browns
W
38–35 vs Ravens
WK 2
W
54–24 vs Raiders
WK 1
Steelers
L
13–34 vs Rams
WK 2
L
7–30 vs Seahawks
WK 1
TEAM STATS
| Browns | Steelers | |
|---|---|---|
| 265 | TOTAL YARDS | 265 |
| 229 | PASSING YARDS | 188 |
| 36 | RUSHING YARDS | 77 |
| 0 | SACKS ALLOWED | 1 |
| 1 | SACKS MADE | 0 |
| 1 | GIVEAWAYS | 0 |
| 0 | TAKEAWAYS | 1 |
Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.