Browns 48, Steelers 37: Cleveland earns first playoff victory since 1994 season.
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 4837 in the wildcard round Sunday night.
It’s the franchise’s first postseason victory in more than a quarter century, and it earned Cleveland a trip to Kansas City next Sunday to face the Super Bowl champion Chiefs.
Playing without firstyear head coach Kevin Stefanski, Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio and top cornerback Denzel Ward back in Cleveland after all tested positive for the coronavirus, Cleveland raced to the biggest first half by a road team in NFL playoff history, then held off the Steelers.
“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 TDs, including a screen pass that Nick Chubb turned into a 40yard score that halted Pittsburgh’s momentum after the Steelers had cut their deficit to 12. Kareem Hunt added 48 yards and two TDs on the ground. Cleveland’s defense forced five turnovers to hand the Steelers a staggering loss.
The victory was the Browns’ first postseason triumph since beating New England on New Year’s Day 1995 — three months before Mayfield was born — and their first playoff win on the road since Dec. 28, 1969.
They did it despite practicing just once over the past 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 specialteams coordinator Mike Priefer, a Cleveland native,
subbing for Stefanski and with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who played collegiately at Pitt, taking over playcalling.
“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.”
The Steelers certainly helped, ending a season in which they started 110 with a thud that could reverberate for years. Ben Roethlisberger ended his comeback season by throwing for 501 yards on an NFLrecord 47 completions with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
The 48 points were the most the Steelers allowed in the playoffs. They gave up 45 to Jacksonville in the 2017 playoffs.
Pittsburgh’s problems started on the first play from scrimmage when center Maurkice Pouncey’s snap sailed by Roethlisberger all the way to the end zone. The Browns’ Karl Joseph fell on it for a touchdown. The miscues were just starting. Roethlisberger threw three firsthalf interceptions, two of which led directly to Cleveland scores.
By the time the Steelers found their footing, they were down 280. Even when they did get it going on a 1yard touchdown run by James Conner with 1: 44 to go in the half, the Browns stormed right back. Mayfield capped a cathartic opening half with a 64yard drive that ended with a 7yard toss to Austin Hooper that put Cleveland up 357 at the break.