The Cleveland Browns were on the wrong end of a 27-6 beatdown at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. It was a chippy, physical division game that you might expect from two teams fighting for first place. It was a punk test for the Browns, and they showed that they weren’t quite ready for this moment.

In some ways, Browns defensive end Jared Verse experienced a microcosm of this against Steelers guard Mason McCormick. On a point-after touchdown attempt, Verse jumped in an effort to block the kick. While in the air, McCormick essentially caught Verse and bodyslammed him to the ground, earning a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty. 

Verse answered questions about the play following the game.

Part of his response, Verse said, “That's just the way that they are, him specifically; that's the way he plays and that was just lack of awareness on my part. I should have had a better grasp of the type of player I was going up against.” Frankly, I couldn’t agree more with this.

The Steelers played this game with an edge and physicality that the Browns did not. They played this game with an understanding of its importance to the playoff race and brought an urgency to the field that the Browns lacked. Not that these things make a dirty play okay, but those types of moments are to be expected in a chippy rivalry game with playoff implications.

Verse is in his third year in the NFL and has been to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons. He is supposed to know what that level of intensity looks like. As a leader on the defensive line, he needs to set the tone up front. 

Again, I’m not calling for dirty plays on the field. However, the entire Browns team was bodyslammed up and down the field on Sunday. If this team truly wants to compete for a playoff spot, then they have to be the team that is imposing their will on the opponent and not the one having their face shoved in the dirt.