Should Jared Verse Regret Trash Talking the Steelers before Browns’ WK8 Loss?

The Rich Eisen Show stirred the pot, and the Steelers served the meal.

It started back in Week 4, when the Browns and Steelers opened that week on Thursday Night Football. Afterward, Browns defender Jared Verse said Pittsburgh's offensive line played dirty and that he couldn't wait to see them again. So when Cam Heyward made his regular Tuesday visit to the show last week, the soundbite got played for him. "I even said I'm going to stir it up right now," someone in the studio admitted. Heyward's answer, as Rich recalled it, was basically that the comments would be addressed.

They were. Pittsburgh beat Cleveland 27-6, and "it didn't even feel that close." The Steelers sacked Deshaun Watson eight times, tied for the most by any team in a game this season. The other team with eight? The Jets, against the Browns and Watson, back in Week 5. The Steelers defense "put the bang thing on the Browns," and Jaylen Warren did the rest on offense.

Cleveland's lone bright spot was Harold Fannin, the first Browns tight end with 150 receiving yards in a game since Ozzie Newsome in 1984. But the story was Verse, who finished with zero tackles, and the Steelers let him hear it.

"He should have kept his mouth shut," Jaquan Brisker said. "All that talking and to come out with zero tackles. I mean, that's bad. You didn't stand behind your words and you didn't stand on business. So he got to look himself in the mirror and get better."

Rico Dowdle had his say too. "All he is talking, got zero sacks," Dowdle said. Did Verse's comments add extra motivation? "No, we didn't need no extra motivation," he said. "It's bulletin board material, but it's a division game and I think this rivalry speaks for itself."

Verse, to his credit, stood at the podium and took it. "I stand by everything I say, and as a man, you have to naturally do that," he said. But he didn't spare his own team. "I don't know who the hell that team was that walked out there," he said. "We didn't do enough across the board, from the first quarter to the last quarter." Rich's verdict: "Good for him for standing up."

Then there was left guard Mason McCormick, who at one point lifted Verse into the air and threw him to the ground for a 15-yard penalty. McCormick said he didn't know it was Verse. "I really had no idea who it was," he said. "Just felt somebody jump, and we're told to get jumpers' hands down." The studio did not buy it for a second.

Heyward, who had a sack, was asked about it after the game too. "Can't say I was looking for him," he said. "It's just a game." Motivated by the comments? "Not motivated by that," Heyward said. "We were motivated because we want to get this damn win before we got to the bye. So there's bigger fish to fry."

So now the Steelers are 6-2, alone in first place, a half game in front of Cincinnati. Rich remembered the last time Pittsburgh was 6-2, two years ago, when Justin Fields got them off to a nice start and Tomlin went to Russell anyway. They got to 8-2 and then the wheels fell off.

Rich ran through the schedule. After the bye comes a Sunday night trip to Cincinnati. Win that, sweep the Bengals, and "you could make the case they're in the catbird seat of winning this division." Then a visit to Philadelphia and a game against Denver the day after Thanksgiving that, depending on Buffalo, could be for the top seed in the conference. Two nationally televised games against the AFC South, home for Houston and at Jacksonville on a Monday night. Two against Baltimore, which, Rich said, could have a U-Haul backed up if Jesse Minter is already talking about keeping the team together in Week 8. Home for Carolina, at Tennessee.

Rich recalled Joe Manganiello asking on the show whether the Steelers could win 11 or 12 games. "That's not out of the realm right now," Rich said. Warren is "killing it," the studio noted they have two good backs now with Dowdle scoring a touchdown, and Pittsburgh is doing it without Michael Pittman.

Cleveland, meanwhile, is on the outside looking in, and the issue is scoring points consistently. The Browns go to New Orleans next, a game Rich and the studio agreed they have to win. If Travis Etienne and Jordyn Tyson both get back, the Saints become a different draw for the second half. Then Houston comes to town, and two games against Cincinnati keep the division in play. Go into the bye at 7-3, and the Browns are still in the mix.

Someone in the studio didn't think Cleveland beats Houston. The reply came quickly: "At some point, we might have to stop ascribing to Houston the way that we viewed them."