CLEVELAND (93.7 The Fan) – The Browns took the first couple of drives right now the Steelers throats and even though not scoring again until a field goal with 1:40 left, it was enough against a Steelers team that played quick on offense with little chunk plays and missed opportunities. Browns win 13-6, only a fourth victory on the season.
“They have a good defense, but we didn’t execute very well on third downs,” said quarterback Aaron Rodgers. “I didn’t have a very good game. Didn’t run the ball early like we wanted to.
Pretty bad on third down.”
Rodgers was 21-39 for only 168 yards, many of those yards in two-minute drills at the end of both halves. They averaged only 3.9 yards per pass and 4.5 per offensive play. Steelers were 3-15 on third down and 0-3 on fourth down.
Turning points
Down a touchdown in the second quarter, Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith hits Browns QB Shedeur Sanders forcing an off-target throw picked off by Steelers linebacker Jack Sawyer and returned to the Browns 31. Here are the next four plays
· Rodgers to Conner Heyward -4 yards
· Jaylen Warren 7 yards
· Rodgers scramble and slide a yard before getting the 1st down
“I was an option,” Miller said. “We have a concept on the back side of the that play. I was singled up. We knew I had one-on-one with number 7, he was pressed on me. Aaron had trust in me, we just couldn’t connect. I thought I had a step on him, just couldn’t make it happen.”
Steelers would turn a big turnover into no points.
Another big part of the game was a series that started late in the third quarter and carried over to the fourth. Steelers slowly moved down the field and had a first down at the Browns 27. They went back nine yards and then a 54-yard field goal attempt was short. The drive ate up 8:04 seconds and accounted for no points.
A jump ball interception by Kyle Dugger gave the Steelers the ball at the Browns 34 early in the fourth quarter. After a 15-yard run by Kenneth Gainwell, a sideways pass to Miller, eight yards to Jonnu Smith, a false start and an incompletion.
Another opportunity with no points.
Final drive of the game, a couple of plays to Pat Freiermuth in the middle of the field got the ball to the Browns 10-yard line. After a three-yard completion to Adam Thielen, three straight incompletions to Marquez Valdes-Scantling to end the game.
Rodgers believed on the last throw on fourth down, Browns Pro Bowler Denzel Ward interfered with Valdez Scantling.
“The ball went up and he did a good job of playing through me,” Valdes-Scantling said of how he saw it. “I thought should have got that call, but no call was made. That’s what it was.”
“They had a lot to do with it,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “They made some plays. And I’m never one not to compliment worthy opponents, and certainly they made plays today.”
“As an offense, usually the most frustrating thing when you feel like you are letting the team now because our defense played so well and gave us so many opportunities,” Thielen said. “We knew that if we could go and score we were going to win the game. Obviously, we didn’t get that done.”
Cleveland early lead
The Browns took the first couple of drives right now the Steelers throats as Shedeur Sanders side-stepped the rush to hit Brenden Bates for 19 yards and later a 10-yard completion to Jerry Jeudy on 3rd and 9 to set up the 50-yard field goal.
After forcing a three-and-out where Conner Heyward recovered a Jaylen Warren fumble, Cleveland started at its own 14. Shedeur found Cedric Tillman wide open for 40 yards. Trayveon Williams had a nine-yard run on 3rd and 5 and it culminated with a mix-up in the secondary and bad recovery attempt by Kyle Dugger as Shedeur threw one up for tight end Harold Fannin. He made a leaping catch landing at the Steelers one-yard line and, untouched, rolled into the end zone and after two possessions, its 10-0 Browns.
Broken arm
While not blamed for staying away from the tush push, the injury to Darnell Washington seemed to impact play calling. Washington has what Tomlin characterized as a broken arm. While he wouldn’t say how long he is out, returning for an all-or-nothing game with Baltimore next weekend seems like a stretch.