Thursday’s “First Call” lets us know which Cleveland Browns are tracking to play against the Steelers Sunday. T.J. Watt’s brother, J.J., may be done for the rest of the season. The Calgary Flames are on fire heading into Thursday’s game against the Penguins. And Pitt’s game against Miami may be tougher than you think.
Browns coming back
As the Steelers and Browns get set to play each other for the first of two games this season, some of Cleveland’s key players are getting healthier.
According to BrownsWire.com, “Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb (calf) and right tackle Jack Conklin (knee) were both participants in Wednesday’s practice session. Both Chubb and Conklin spoke as if they expected to play on Sunday.”
Other important Browns did not practice. Wide receiver Jarvis Landry and defensive end Jadeveon Clowney are both still banged up following last Thursday night’s win over the Denver Broncos. Head coach Kevin Stefanski says Landry’s knee injury that kept him out is unrelated to the one that kept him on IR for several weeks prior to Week 7.
Chubb and Conklin both missed each of the last two games. As for quarterback Baker Mayfield, The Athletic’s Zac Jackson said the Cleveland quarterback “will get a bunch of reps. Case (Keenum) will get some reps. It will be like normal.”
Jackson posted that Stefanski referred to Mayfield as being characterized as “day by day.”
Which Watt is out?
Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman J.J. Watt is possibly out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.
Sources tell ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Watt hurt his shoulder in the second quarter during Sunday’s win over the Houston Texans. But he still managed to play the rest of the game with the injury.
Watt is in his first season with the Cardinals. The 32-year-old former defensive player of the year spent 10 seasons in Houston. He earned three Defensive Player of the Year awards. Injuries have forced Watt to play eight games or fewer in three of the last five seasons.
Watt has 16 tackles, a sack and 10 quarterback hits in seven starts with Arizona this season. He’s been part of a collective defensive improvement on that side of the ball with the Cardinals. Heading into Thursday night’s game against the visiting Green Bay Packers, the Cardinals boast the No. 4 overall defense in the NFL and the No. 1 scoring defense.
Red-hot Flames
The Penguins host the Calgary Flames Thursday night. And the Flames come in appropriately named.
Red-hot.
Calgary has won four in a row after losing their first two. Overall, the Flames have points in four of six games.
Center Elias Lindholm and winger Andrew Mangiapane both have seven goals. Alexander Ovechkin is the only player with more.
Meanwhile, the Flames are tied for the sixth best defense in the league allowing 2.50 goals per game. The team’s power play is also sixth best in the NHL at 29.4%. And only two teams — the Los Angeles Kings (36.3) and Minnesota Wild (36.3) — are averaging more shots per game than the Flames (35.3).
PITT-er patter
The Pitt Panthers managed to avoid a loss against Virginia Tech before the big game against Clemson.
Then they managed to beat Clemson in the big game.
Now they need to avoid the letdown loss after the big win.
Coach Pat Narduzzi’s team (6-1) hosts Miami (3-4) Saturday. It looks like a sure win on paper. But two of those Miami losses — against Virginia and North Carolina — have come by a total of five points.
According to BetRivers.com, the Panthers are nine-point favorites. But Pittsburgh Sports Express odds expert Anthony Jaskulski offered this caveat before you bet.
Pitt’s a -9 point favorite over Miami this Sat.
Biggest line for Pitt in the history of the matchup, and just the 4th time Pitt is a favorite over Miami in the Heinz Field era.
Pitt lost straight up all three times.
2019: (-4.5) L 12-16
2015: (-7) L 24-29
2013: (-1) L 31-41— Anthony Jaskulski (@AnthonyJazz) October 26, 2021
Pitt hasn’t beaten Miami since 2017 when they shocked the No. 2 Hurricanes 24-14. Since then, Miami won the last three matchups by an aggregate score of 71-34.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
