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Browns vs Steelers
By: Jay Pounds (@jaypoundsnfl)
Dynasty Owners, it’s Championship Week! Welcome back to the 17th week of the Monday Night Football preview. It is crazy to think about the fact that we only have one game and one week left of the 2021 NFL season. This season has flown by like a summer break back in high school. Before we jump into this week’s fantastic matchup, let’s hit last week’s game between the short-handed New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins, though it wasn’t much of a game. In the Week 16 preview, I placed my almost weekly curse on Tre‘Quan Smith who returned from injury to receive zero targets during the contest from rookie quarterback Ian Book who happened to make his NFL debut. I blame my selection on too much faith in Sean Payton. I am kidding as I have had a weird knack for selecting players who get absolutely shut down as my Value of the Game this season. Let’s see if we can avoid a curse by selecting someone who is a pretty sure bet this week. Stay tuned to see who that is!
What to Watch For
In my favorite Monday night matchup this season, we have Big Ben’s home finale for my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers facing off against Baker Mayfield and the rival Cleveland Browns. I am extremely excited for this match-up simply because it’s good old fashion AFC North football, a slugfest if you will! I am expecting the game to feature much more scoring simply because it’s Ben Roethlisberger’s last game at Heinz Field. I see no scenario where the Steelers don’t play well on offense. It’s a storybook ending in the making of sorts as Big Ben has thoroughly dominated the Browns throughout his excellent career! As for the Browns’ side of the ball I am expecting a tough contest for about two quarters until Baker decides to take over the game over in only ways Baker Mayfield can (three and outs and turnovers). Some of that is a bit of a joke, but as soon as the Browns are forced away from the run game, I foresee the same problems we have seen all year long from the Browns. The other thing I will be watching for the Browns is the return of Kareem Hunt and how much he will be able to impact the short passing game. If Hunt has some sort of setback and is unable to go, I expect to see Chubb early and often as he has been the bread and butter for the Browns this season. Love him or Hate him Big Ben has been a generational quarterback for one of the great NFL franchises and it will be an odd sight for Steeler Nation come the start of the 2022 season!
Jay’s Monday Night Prediction
Cleveland Browns 14  | Pittsburgh Steelers 31 |
Over/Under Projections
Browns
| Player | Position | Salary | Projected Points | Over/Under |
| Baker Mayfield | QB | $8,170,745 | 20.7 | Under |
| Nick Chubb | RB | $1,845,774 | 14.2 | Over |
| Kareem Hunt | RB | $6,000,000 | 11.2 | Under |
| Jarvis Landry | WR | $15,100,000 | 11.5 | Under |
| Austin Hooper | TE | $10,500,000 | 7.1 | Over |
Steelers
| Player | Position | Salary | Projected Points | Over/Under |
| Ben Roethlisberger | QB | $14,000,000 | 21.8 | Over |
| Najee Harris | RB | $3,261,862 | 17.7 | Over |
| Diontae Johnson | WR | $1,070,241 | 15.7 | Over |
| Chase Claypool | WR | $1,654,156 | 12.6 | Over |
| Pat Freiermuth | TE | $1,507,045 | 9.0 | Over |
Jay’s Dynasty Owner Championship Match-ups of the Week
Game 1 – League #35691
Orange Crush – Chris Boswell on Bench left to play
Orange Crush has got to be elated with a great chance he will slay the dragon of his league. Orange Crush has the better record, but their opponent juan blanco is the Number 4 team in Chase for the Ring. There is no way Orange Crush doesn’t know what they are up against in the Championship match. If I were Orange Crush, I would head into tonight’s matchup feeling extremely confident knowing a Championship is within reach and it’s Baker Mayfield who must beat me, not Joe Burrow. Barring the greatest Baker Mayfield performance ever, Congrats on the League #35691 Championship Orange Crush!
juan blanco – Baker Mayfield on Bench left to play
juan blanco are the Number 4 contender in Dynasty Owner’s Chase for the Ring and not in a good spot to remain there heading into the last game of the Dynasty Owner season. As we saw last week with Havana Club 79 just because you scored a ton of points does not mean your team is safe in the Chase standings. juan blanco is facing a potential exit from the Chase standings, and it will all come down to a benched Baker Mayfield. If you have read any of my articles this season you will know I have zero faith in Baker getting anything done. Great run this season juan blanco but I feel they will end up a hair short of their goal!
Game 2 – League #28287
Blaze’s Backyard Burners – Najee Harris in Starting lineup left to play
Blaze’s Backyard Burners started the Championship game as the Number 7 contender in the Chase for the Ring. They are trailing in their League #28287 Championship game, but fortunately have Najee Harris left to play in their Starting lineup. While I’m a Steelers’ super fan and think Harris will have a great game and exceed his projection of 17.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points, I don’t think Harris has a game with more than 31.75 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in him this week. I’m rooting for Harris to do that well and for Blaze’s Backyard Burners to win, but think it’s unlikely to happen.
Orange Crush – No players in Starting lineup or on Bench left to play
Orange Crush has a great opportunity to be a double Dynasty Owner Champion and knock off two Top 10 Chase teams in the process. This Orange Crush team currently sits in 20th place and holds a significant lead, but has no players left to play. However, their lead should hold up and Orange Crush will likely win two Championships this season.
Value of the Game
In tonight’s matchup I have one of my favorite players in the NFL as the Value of the Game – Diontae Johnson. Johnson has been fantastic throughout his short Steelers’ career and has been the Value of the Game many times already due to his cheap salary paired with his excellent production. Johnson has regularly seen 10 plus targets per game throughout this season and I see no reason this Week 17 match-up against the Browns will be any different. I am sure I am extremely biased on this choice as zero Browns players caught my attention when it came to winning the award. My biggest worry with this selection is the fact I picked Johnson earlier in the year and the curse was in full affect as he only managed 11.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points against the Bears back in Week 9.
Winner – Diontae Johnson
| Jay’s Projected Stat Line | Receptions | Receiving Yards | TDs | DOFP |
| Diontae Johnson | 6 | 86 | 1 | 20.6 |
Since it’s Championship Week, this is my last Monday Night Football preview of the season. Be sure to check out my Free Agent Auction Targets of the Year article and video that is coming later on in the week. Don’t forget about Steve Van Tassell’s Chase for the Ring recap article on Tuesday and Week 17 recap article video, as well as Matt “The Jerk” Morrison who will have an article and video at the end of the week. Don’t forget to check out Dynasty Owner on YouTube!
Thank you all for reading and hopefully tonight’s game will be a good one with all these projections coming true. Stay safe and good luck on your 2021 Chase for the Ring!