The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
STEELERS ROLL
Steelers reign at Heinz Field a 17th straight time; Mayfield finishes game nursing ribs on sideline
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, 6, and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. look on during the Steelers’ 38-7 victory over the Browns on Oct. 18 in Pittsburgh.
PITTSBURGH » Baker Mayfield’s orange helmet was replaced by a white baseball cap as he watched the fourth quarter from Cleveland’s sideline.
The Steelers battered the quarterback and forced the Browns to tap out early.
They made Odell Beckham Jr. scream, throw his helmet and kick off his cleats.
No doubt, the Browns (4-2) are a much better team than recently. However, they’ve still got a long way to go before they’re ready to compete with Baltimore or Pittsburgh — the heavyweights of the AFC North.
Mayfield’s early interception
returned for a touchdown set the tone for Pittsburgh’s 38-7 shellacking of the Browns, who were overwhelmed in losing their 17th straight game at Heinz Field — a beating that soured their best start in 26 years.
“We didn’t do anything right,” Browns first-year coach Kevin Stefanski said. “Obviously.”
By the end of the third quarter, the Browns were down by 24 and Mayfield, who came in nursing sore ribs, was pulled in an act of surrender and survival by Stefanski. The quarterback was sacked four times and pressured incessantly by Pittsburgh’s snarling, swarming defense.
“I didn’t want him to get hit one more time,” Stefanski said.
Moments later, Beckham was left standing in his socks.
Cleveland’s polarizing, playmaking wide receiver had tried to rally his teammates in the first half with a fiery sideline speech. But the Steelers (5-0) weren’t done shoving the Browns around and ended their rival’s longest winning streak since 1994.
In the fourth quarter, an exasperated Beckham, who missed two practices this week after being sent home Thursday with flulike symptoms, was replaced. He tossed his helmet, removed his cleats and stood with his arms folded while tr y ing to
process how the Browns were so thoroughly dominated as Cleveland’s reser ves played the final minutes.
Beckham wasn’t the only angry Browns player.
“We’re all very frustrated,” said Mayfield, who finished 10 of 18 for 119 yards before he was pulled. “We don’t come out here just to get stats. We come out here to win. So it’s a frustrating loss for us knowing that we didn’t play well. We let a great team capitalize on all of our mistakes. We’re all frustrated.”
For all the strides they’ve made, the Browns, now have been throttled by Baltimore, 38-6 in Week 1, and
Pittsburgh.
Mayfield said it’s vital for he and his teammates to quickly get over this one.
“You don’t want to let it landside,” he said. “You don’t want to let one (loss) turn into two. We have to learn from the mistakes, grow from it and move forward.”
Mayfield’s first mistake was a killer.
With the Steelers already leading 3-0, Mayfield tried to hit rookie tight end Harrison Bryant on a slant pattern, but didn’t see safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who picked off the pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown.
Mayfield threw another interception later in the half when he avoided being sacked by linebacker T.J. Watt but then threw a ball up for grabs when the smarter play would have been throwing it away. It was Mayfield’s fourth interception in a four-quarter span.
“I’ve got to take care of the ball,” Mayfield said. “The first one, the Pick-6, I gotta see that coverage.”
Stefanski brought i n backup Case Keenum to finish the game to protect Mayfield, who didn’t want to come out but understood his coach’s reasoning.
“I’m focused on the here and now, and I want to get out there and have some success,” Mayfield said.