The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t just beat the Cleveland Browns 27-6 in Week 8, they delivered a straight-up smackdown to Browns edge rusher Jared Verse, who had *zero* tackles after talking a whole lot of trash. Turns out, maybe Verse *should* have been worried about the Steelers.
Talk is Cheap, Especially When You Can’t Tackle
Verse spent the entire lead-up to this Week 8 matchup running his mouth, calling some Steelers players “dirty.” He specifically called out Steelers captain Cam Heyward, saying, “I’m not worried about Cam. I’m not worried about their offensive line. I’m not worried about anyone on their team.” Man, that aged fast, huh? The Steelers heard every single word, but they weren’t about to get into a battle of words themselves. Running back Jaylen Warren summed it up perfectly after the game when asked about Verse’s comments, simply stating, “Some walk, some talk.”
Safety Jaquan Brisker was a bit more direct, telling Ashley Wenskowski, “He should have kept his mouth shut. All that talk, and then to come out with 0 tackles, that’s bad. He’s gotta look at himself in the mirror and get better.” You can’t argue with that. Verse’s tackle total for the game? Lower than his body slams received total, according to the source. Ouch.
Steelers Let the Pads Do the Talking
While Verse was busy running his mouth, the Steelers were busy running all over his defense. Pittsburgh gashed the Browns for a massive 200 yards rushing. And it wasn’t just the run game. The Steelers defense was absolutely relentless, sacking Deshaun Watson a whopping eight times! Get this: Steelers undrafted rookie Kevin Jobity, who had only appeared in one other game this season, now has more sacks than Verse, who still has zero through eight games. That’s a brutal stat line for the guy doing all the chirping.
Offensive tackle Troy Fautanu dropped a little gem, telling Alan Saunders that the Steelers purposefully kept quiet once they built a big lead. “We were kinda not talking on purpose just to piss them off,” Fautanu said. “They wanted us to start chatting a little bit. We were just trying to finish the game.” Edge rusher Nick Herbig echoed that sentiment, saying, “We let the pads do the talking.” It was clear the Steelers were more concerned with winning the war on the field than the battle of words, and they executed that plan to perfection.
With that dominant 27-6 victory, the Steelers are now sitting pretty at 6-2. They control their own destiny for the AFC North title, aiming for a second straight season. All they gotta do is take care of business in the second half. And after that Week 8 performance, you can bet they’ll keep letting their pads do the talking.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Behind the Steel Curtain.
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