The Browns faced off against the Steelers Sunday evening at Heinz field, leaving Pittsburgh fans stunned as Cleveland dominated the game; this was Cleveland’s first playoff game since 2002 when they lost in the wildcard round.
Many expected Pittsburgh (now 12-5) to control most of the game as they were the No 3. seed for the AFC conference and finished first in their division. However, it turned out to be just the opposite. In the first quarter, the Browns (3rd in AFC North division, 6th seed in AFC conference) earned 28 points, the most ever scored in a first quarter playoff match. One commentator was so stunned that he claimed, “It’s like 20 years of frustration is coming out for the Browns.”
These points game from great lines of offense and defense by the Browns. In the first 14 seconds of the game, Cleveland got a touchdown after a poor snap by the Steelers center landed the ball in the red zone. Browns player Karl Joseph immediately jumped on the ball, putting his team up early in the game. Others that put up early points for the Browns were Jarvis Landry (40-yard pass) and Kareem Hunt (2 running touchdowns).
The Browns had much success on the field, as Mayfield was able to draw up 21/34 completed passes, getting 263 yards. Nick Chubb led in rushing yards with 76 and second in receiving at 69. In front of him for receiving was Jarvis Landry with 92.
The Steelers offense struggled even more so in the first half of the game. Ben Roethlisberger threw 4 interceptions, and the team went into halftime, only putting up 10 points as opposed to the Browns 35.
In the second half, the Steelers came out with a different mindset and began to show what they could do. Roethlisberger started completing passes for his team, obtaining 13 points in the third quarter and another 14 in the fourth. Unfortunately, for the Steelers, their second half efforts landed them short of a win, as they fell behind the Browns with a final score of 48-37.
Even though they didn’t secure a spot to play next week, the Steelers still fought hard to come back after being down by so much in the beginning. Roethlisberger was able to go 47/68 passes to give the team 501 yards of play. Juju Smith-Schuster had the most on the receiving end for a total of 157, and James Conner on top for 37 yards of rushing. Chase Claypool had the most touchdowns for the Steelers (2).
Coach Tomlin said in a press conference after the game, “There’s not a lot to say, we didn’t perform well enough tonight…we weren’t good enough in a lot of other areas of communication and in terms of detail…”
Perhaps the most impressive thing to come out of this game was that the Browns pulled out a victory without their head coach. Kevin Stefanski was unable to attend the game due to Covid restrictions and was forced to stay home and watch the game from his basement with his phone turned off and act as any normal person would. Offensive Coordinator Alex Van-Pelt took over for the night to call the shots for Cleveland, and he did not disappoint.
A Browns win means they will move on to the next round to go up against the No.1 seed Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, January 17th, kickoff taking place at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
