STEELERS MOVE TO 5- 0
Confident Cleveland had high expectations coming into game but leave town for 17th year in row with disheartening defeat
Steelers inside linebacker Devin Bush celebrates after he sacks Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield Sunday at Heinz Field on the North Shore. The Steelers made things look easy against the rival Browns, beating their AFC North foe 38- 7. But it wasn’t all sunshine and roses, as the Steelers lost second- year linebacker Bush to what coach Mike Tomlin called a “significant” knee injury.
It might have been expected of the Steelers to beat the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field. After all, they have done it every year since 2004.
But not many envisioned it being by 31 points. Or by limiting the NFL’s highest scoring team to a meaningless touchdown. Or holding the league’s most prolific running attack to 75 yards on 25 carries, more than 110 yards below its league- leading average.
If it was hot in the AFC North Division kitchen, as coach Mike Tomlin proclaimed last week, the Steelers cooled down the Browns with a 38- 7 victory Sunday, the 17th year in a row the Browns have left Heinz Field with a defeat. What’s more, it was their most lopsided defeat in front of the yellow seats since a 31- 0 loss in 2008.
“That was varsity ball today,” Tomlin said. “They stepped up and stepped up big.”
So did safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who made his first interception in 12 games a big one — a 33- yard touchdown return in the first quarter that staked the Steelers to a 10- 0 lead and paved the way for a dominating defensive performance.
“We needed to set the tone on defense,” Fitzpatrick said. “You get a pick- 6, that’s definitely the way to do it.”
It is the first time the Steelers have started 5- 0 since the 1978 season when they went on to win their
third Super Bowl. The loss ended the Browns’ four- game winning streak and dropped them to 4- 2.
But the victory was tempered by the loss of inside linebacker Devin Bush, who left the game in the second quarter with what Tomlin called a “significant” left knee injury. A Steelers source confirmed that Bush has a torn anterior cruciate ligament and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
“It was a good win, I’m going to leave it at that,” said defensive end Cam Heyward, who led the defense with eight tackles and was largely responsible for stopping the Browns three times on fourthand1 situations. “The good thing is we are 5- 0. This is something we have to continue improve on. We’re not going to rest on just being 5- 0.”
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said the performance felt like an “old Bill Cowher offense” when he turns around and hands the ball 20 times to Jerome Bettis. This time he turned around and handed the ball 20 times to James Conner, who rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown — his third 100yard game of the season.
And it was like old times for Roethlisberger, too. He attempted just 22 passes — his fewest in a game in which he wasn’t injured since Dec. 8, 2011 — for 162 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. And yet the Steelers put up more than 30 points for the second game in a row after failing to do so in the previous 23 games, the longest drought in the NFL.
“It didn’t feel like we were doing a lot on offense,” said Roethlisberger, who had a 100- plus passer rating ( 100.9) for the fourth time in five games. “We ended up scoring 31 on offense, but it just never felt like we did much. That’s what’s special about this team, our offense. Everyone contributes, everyone makes big plays.”
One week after allowing the Philadelphia Eagles to convert 10 of 14 third- down chances, the Steelers held the Browns to just 1 of 12 on third down, in addition to those three stops on fourth down. Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield was intercepted twice and sacked four times before being replaced in the fourth quarter by Case Keenum.
“They are a good team, we saw that,” said Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. “They were able to move the ball on us through the air and on the ground. They really had the pick of what they wanted. They just outplayed us on defense and offense.”
Mayfield’s biggest mistake came just three plays after the Steelers scored on their first possession for the first time this season, getting a 35- yard field goal from Chris Boswell for a 3- 0 lead.
Fitzpatrick stepped in front of Mayfield’s pass on third- and- 3 for tight end Harrison Bryant and returned the pick 33 yards for a touchdown — his first pick- 6 since a 96- yard interception return against Indianapolis Nov. 3, 2019.
“I don’t know what it did for us, but I think it sent a message to them that third down wasn’t going to be easy sledding today,” Tomlin said. “Minkah is an Aplayer. It was a significant play. We’ll keep snapping the ball and watching him do it. That’s the type of player he is.”
From there, the Steelers just kept piling on. They built the lead to 17- 0 when Conner scored on a 3yard run, one play after Roethlisberger hit rookie receiver Chase Claypool down the left sideline for a 33- yard gain over cornerback Terrance Mitchell.
And, after cornerback Cam Sutton intercepted Mayfield’s thirddown pass at the 50, Roethlisberger hit a wide- open James Washington for a 28- yard touchdown and a 24- 0 lead, their largest of the season. It was a complete reversal from a week ago when they nearly frittered away a 17- point lead to the Eagles.
“It was our first AFC North game,” said Roethlisberger, who was replaced by Mason Rudolph after the Steelers scored for the final time with 8: 08 remaining. “We wanted to kind of play good football, and we wanted to do it in all three phases. I don’t know the last time I came out of the game with eight minutes to go, so that’s a good feeling.”
Conversely, the Browns can’t have a good feeling that both of their losses — to the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens — came in the division by a combined 76- 13.
“We just got outplayed today,” Mayfield said. “Great teams, like I said after the Ravens game, great teams capitalize on your mistakes, and they did. That is why the difference is that drastic.”