Gerry Dulac: Here's a shocker -- Browns come to town with major QB questions

PITTSBURGH — The Cleveland Browns, who handle quarterbacks like a one-armed juggler, are at it again.

The franchise that once started a season with three quarterbacks who had never won an NFL game will try to end a 21-game regular-season losing streak in Pittsburgh with two rookie quarterbacks — Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders — who have never won an NFL game. And have one career start between them.

Gabriel, their third-round draft choice, made his first start last week in the Browns' 21-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London. He has played a grand total of 80 snaps in three games. Sanders, drafted in the fifth round, has yet to take a snap in the regular season.

They do not have another quarterback on the roster. Bailey Zappe, who has nine career starts, including a 21-18 victory over the Steelers when he was with the New England Patriots in 2023, is on their practice squad.

If the Browns elevate him from the practice squad on Saturday, Zappe would have to be the No. 2 quarterback for the game, according to NFL rules. A player who is elevated from the practice squad cannot serve as the emergency third quarterback. That means Sanders would have to be the third quarterback. The Browns would have to sign Zappe to the 53-man roster if they want him to be the emergency third quarterback.

"I have no idea what they're going to do," defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. "The only thing you can do, and what I would do, is go back on your previous knowledge of playing against Bailey Zappe. I think there's probably more to be had with the young quarterback [Gabriel], going back and watching some of his college tape to see all the different things that he does. You know he's going to be taking a majority of the snaps. You want to try to get as much information as you can on him."

It can only happen with the Browns, who have now started 41 different quarterbacks since returning to the league in 1999.

They are in this predicament after trading veteran Joe Flacco, a former Super Bowl MVP, to the Cincinnati Bengals, a move that even surprised their coach, Kevin Stefanski. That came after they traded Kenny Pickett five months after acquiring the former Steelers quarterback in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles.

This is nothing new for the Browns. They went into the 2017 season with three quarterbacks who had never won an NFL game — rookie DeShone Kizer, Kevin Hogan and Cody Kessler.

This is a franchise that ran off Baker Mayfield to give Deshaun Watson a fully guaranteed $235 million contract. Since then, Watson has appeared in just 19 games because of suspension and injury and has a 9-10 record.

Of the 41 different starting quarterbacks since 1999, only three have managed a winning record with the Browns — Brian Hoyer (9-6), Flacco (5-4), and Case Keenum (2-0).

This is just the latest chapter.

'Built different'

Since leading the NFL in red zone percentage (73.47%) in 2018, the Steelers have finished in the bottom half of the league in touchdowns inside the 20 five times, including being last in 2019 (35.07%). That was the year Ben Roethlisberger injured his elbow in Week 2 and the Steelers played the remainder of the season with Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges.

But they are off to a better start this season, scoring nine touchdowns in 13 trips inside the red zone, a percentage (69.23) that ranks eighth in the league. They were under 50% each of the previous two seasons.

The Steelers are tied for the sixth-fewest trips inside the red zone, but that's because they are one of four teams who have played one fewer game.

"We're built different," offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said. "This year, we've got a lot of catch-and-run guys. I call them last-mile delivery guys that are hard to tackle. So sometimes those are catch-and-run type plays of whatever you scheme up. We just got to keep that trend going."

Conversely, the Steelers are one of four teams with a winning record who have allowed more points (63) than they've scored (57) in the red zone.

Part of that is because the opponent has run more offensive plays than the Steelers — 269 to 215.

"Obviously you want more," Smith said. "I mean, we want more plays. They kind of skew some numbers. We need to keep that stuff going, though, in terms of scoring down there."

Doing their job

For the first time this season, inside linebackers Payton Wilson (13) and Patrick Queen (11) each had double-digit tackles against the Minnesota Vikings in Ireland — an example of how the 3-4 defense is conceptually designed to work.

Ideally, the Steelers want to use their defensive linemen to keep guards and centers from getting clean shots at their inside backers. That was the key to the success of their defense in the 2000s when Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel created space for James Farrior and Larry Foote to make tackles.

"It's also a compliment to the bigs, keeping people off them and letting those guys run and hit," Austin said. "I liked the way they were playing downhill, playing fast."

Maybe that's why the defense had its best and most dominating game against the Vikings — at least for 3 1/2 quarters — allowing a season-low 70 yards rushing with six sacks and two takeaways.

Queen played every snap against the Vikings for the third time this season. Wilson played all but 10 plays and showed his speed chasing down Vikings receiver Jordan Addison on an 81-yard catch-and-run.

"I really liked the way they showed up last week," Austin said. "But it's a week-to-week league. We got to come out and perform [against the Browns]."

Bye bye bye

If you're wondering why the Steelers had a bye week after their Ireland game and the Browns did not after playing in London, it's because the league changed its policy regarding international games.

Mike Signora, the league senior vice president of football and international communications, said each team can request to take their bye immediately following an international game or defer the week off until later in the season.

In the past, the league automatically assigned the bye the week after an international game. But, with the increase in games overseas, teams have been given the option to choose.

For example, after becoming the first team to play back-to-back international games at two different locations, the Minnesota Vikings opted to use their bye this week. Conversely, the Denver Broncos and New York Jets, who meet Sunday in London, will take their bye week later in the season.