Pittsburgh Steelers Lose Rematch To Cleveland Browns In Rout
This was supposed to be the easy portion of the Pittsburgh Steelers schedule, however after a 31-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, they now have lost two of their past three games.
The Steelers (3-3) have dominated this AFC North rivalry since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, but this one was different. For one, Cleveland was the favored team entering the day, a rarity in the recent history of this series. For another, the home team scored 31 straight points to overcome a sloppy first quarter.
The highlight of the game for the Steelers was the opening quarter, as the Browns were held to negative-eight total yards. Still the Browns defense limited the Steelers to three points, which came on a 10-play, 63-yard drive. The Steelers had 89 yards of total offense in the first quarter, but the game would change less than 90 seconds into the second quarter.
There a bad snap thwarted a chance for another field goal and punter Brad Wing was stopped short of the first-down marker, giving Cleveland the football back.
On that next drive, the Browns needed five plays to go 68 yards and take the lead. The big play was a Brian Hoyer 42-yard pass to tight end Jordan Cameron. Cameron was somehow chased down by defensive end Brett Keisel short of the end zone.
The touchdown-saving tackle only kept the Browns off the scoreboard for one play as running back Isaiah Crowell had a five-yard rushing touchdown to put them in the lead. The very next Browns drive Cameron and Hoyer connected again, this time for a 51-yard touchdown.
After a Pittsburgh three-and-out, the Browns put another touchdown scoring drive which took up 5:07 of the game clock and ended after 11 plays when running back Ben Tate scored his first of two touchdowns, putting Cleveland on top 21-3 at halftime.
The Steelers had the ball in Browns territory in their opening drive of the second half; however, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked twice for a loss of seven yards. Because of this, Wing was forced to punt from the 37, just outside of field-goal range, which ended a six-minute, 57-yard drive. The Browns added a field goal to extend the lead to 24-3 at quarter’s end.
Cleveland opened the fourth quarter with another Tate touchdown, this one a one-yard run.
Down 28, the Steelers recovered a fumble and attempted to bring the deficit closer, however the drive stalled at the Cleveland 9-yard line and resulted in no points. While Roethlisberger would find Lance Moore for his first touchdown with Pittsburgh, the score came with 2:36 left and the outcome of the game had already been decided.
In the past six quarters between these two teams, the Steelers have been outscored 55-13.
While Hoyer only completed eight passes, he threw for 217 yards, 102 of which were to Cameron, and a touchdown. Roethlisberger completed 21 of his 42 yards for 228 yards with both a touchdown and an interception.
Pittsburgh will host the Houston Texans next Monday night, while the Browns will take on the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday at 1 p.m.