Task Enterprises presentsNFL Intelligence

2008 · Week 2 · Division

Final

Steelers

Pittsburgh

QB Ben Roethlisberger

10·6

Browns

Cleveland

QB Derek Anderson

Cleveland Browns Stadium · outdoors · grass · 80°F · wind 40mph

Closing spread

PIT -6.5

Total

43.5

Model margin

-2.7est.

CLE perspective

Push chance

None

half-point line — cannot push

Win probability

  • Browns
  • Steelers

How each play moved the game.

Browns winsSteelers wins

Matchup

Where the edges are

Season-long league percentiles for both sides, mirrored. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge.

Steelersedge mapBrowns
  • -0.031EPA / play-0.155
  • 42.9%Success rate36.2%
  • +0.022EPA / dropback-0.205
  • -0.103EPA / rush-0.086
  • 7.8%Explosive rate6.7%
  • +0.13CPOE-11.69
  • 41.3%Third-down rate33.5%
  • 54.8%Red-zone TD rate29.2%
  • 1.61Points / drive1.05
  • 2.3%Turnover rate2.6%

Bar length is league percentile, already oriented so longer is better. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge; rows within ~12 points are washed as even.

The rivalry

PIT lead 42–13–1 since 1999

Meetings average 38.9 points. CLE are 25-29-2 ATS in the series.

Previous meetings
SeasonMatchupScoreWinner
2025 · W17PIT @ CLE613CLE
2025 · W6CLE @ PIT923PIT
2024 · W14CLE @ PIT1427PIT
2024 · W12PIT @ CLE1924CLE
2023 · W11PIT @ CLE1013CLE
2023 · W2CLE @ PIT2226PIT
2022 · W18CLE @ PIT1428PIT
2022 · W3PIT @ CLE1729CLE

Box score

Individual performances

Steelers

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Ben Roethlisberger12/1918610

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Willie Parker281053.80
Santonio Holmes11010.00
Carey Davis122.00
Ben Roethlisberger100.00

Browns

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Derek Anderson18/3216602

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Jamal Lewis19382.00
Derek Anderson362.00
Josh Cribbs155.00
Jerome Harrison122.00

Where this game is likely to land

  • Model
  • Smooth (normal)
  • Betting line

Probability of each final margin. Football scoring clusters — the spikes at 3 and 7 are real, and a smooth model misses them.

line -6.52.7%3.0%4.8%3.1%7.5%6.9%2.7%4.0%

Positive margins favour Browns; negative favour Steelers.

Half-point at risk

3.11%

outcomes that flip if the line moves 0.5

Model home win

41.9%

Expected total

39.7est.

Model

Where the number comes from

Each component is additive, in points of expected margin.

  • Team ratings (opponent-adjusted EPA)-5.17
  • Home-field advantage+2.49
  • Quarterback adjustment0.00
  • Rest differential0.00
  • Expected margin-2.68