Browns pickup first playoff win since 1994 season
Browns score 28 in first quarter, hang on to beat Steelers 48-37
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 first 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 first-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, Cleveland (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.”
Baker 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 victory was the Browns’ first postseason triumph of any kind 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 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 — filling in for Stefanski and with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt — who played collegiately at Pitt — taking over the play-calling duties.
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 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. Cleveland’s Karl Joseph fell on it for a touchdown. The miscues were just starting. Roethlisberger threw three first-half interceptions, two of which led directly to Browns scores.
By the time the Steelers found their footing, they were down 28-0. Even when they did get it going on a 1-yard 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 masterful 64-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard toss to Austin Hooper that put Cleveland up 35-7 at the break.
Pittsburgh — much as it did in its last playoff appearance three years ago, an upset defeat at home to Jacksonville — tried to claw back in it. The Steelers pulled within 35-23 at the end of the third quarter. Facing fourth-and-1 at the Pittsburgh 46, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin opted to punt.
It didn’t work out. The kick bounced into the end zone for a touchback and Mayfield calmly took Cleveland 80 yards in six plays. The sideline erupted as Chubb streaked into the end zone.
UP NEXT
Browns: Will make their first divisional-round appearance since the 1994 playoffs when they face the Chiefs.
SAINTS 21, BEARS 9
Michael Thomas and Latavius Murray caught Brees’ touchdown passes, and Alvin Kamara rushed for 99 yards and a 3-yard scoring run after sitting out the regular-season finale and not practicing this past week because of COVID-19 protocols.
On defense, New Orleans (13-4) held Chicago (8-9) to 239 yards, just 48 rushing.
RAVENS 20, TITANS 13
Some first steps are far longer than others. Such as what Jackson achieved.
He isn’t in any way the only reason Baltimore is advancing — the defense shut down 2,000-yard rusher Derrick Henry like no other team has come close to doing. But he was a positive contributor, unlike in losses to the Chargers and Titans in his other playoff appearances.
Jackson ran for 136 yards and a 48-yard touchdown while throwing for 179 more, rallying the Ravens from a 10-0 hole. The Ravens (12-5) went 21 straight losses in either the regular season or playoffs when trailing by 10 or more points.