Cleveland’s Brownout is over as Steelers stunned
First playoff win in more than a quartercentury, first on road since 1969 for franchise.
CLEVELAND 48 PITTSBURGH 37
PITTSBURGH — So much for the weight of history. Or practicing. Or having your head coach on the sideline. Or your emotional leader on the field.
The Cleveland Browns overcame all of it, dismantling the Pittsburgh Steelers 48- 37 in the wild- card round Sunday night.
It’s the franchise’s f irst postseason victory in more than a quarter- century and earned Cleveland a trip to Kansas City next Sunday to face the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs.
Playing with f irst- year head coach Kevin Stefanski, Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio and top cornerback Denzel Ward back in Cleveland after all tested positive for COVID- 19, the Browns ( 12- 5) raced to the biggest first half by a road team in NFL playoff history then held on.
“We believed,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “People on the outside don’t matter to us. It’s on the inside and we believed the whole time, and that’s all that matters.”
Mayfield threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns, including a screen pass that Nick Chubb turned into a 40- yard score that halted Pittsburgh’s momentum after the Steelers had pulled within 12. Kareem Hunt added 48 yards and two touchdowns on the ground while Cleveland’s defense forced five turnovers to hand the Steelers ( 12- 5) a staggering loss.
The win was the Browns’ f irst postseason triumph of any kind since beating New England on New Year’s Day 1995 and their f irst playoff win on the road since Dec. 28, 1969.
They did it despite practicing just once over the last two weeks and having lost 17 straight at Heinz Field. They did it with efficiency and a little bit of swagger. And they did it with special teams coordinator Mike Priefer — a Cleveland native — f illing in for Stefanski and with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt — who played collegiately at Pitt — taking over the play- calling duties.
“We have a resilient team” Mayfield said. “Defense played great in the first half and we kind of stalled out and let them climb back in the game, but that’s a great team win right there — guys stepping up all over the board. I’m proud of these guys.”
The Steelers ( 12- 5) certainly helped, ending a season in which they started 11- 0 with a thud that could reverberate for years. Ben Roethlisberger ended his comeback season by throwing for 501 yards on an NFL- record 47 completions with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
The 48 points were the most the Steelers have given up in the playoffs, surpassing the 45 they gave up to Jacksonville in 2017 playoffs.
So much for the Browns being the Browns, a winking assessment Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith- Schuster made about Cleveland in the middle of the week, which the Browns took to heart.