BROWNS WERE THE SAME OLD BROWNS, AFTER ALL
Did anyone see Myles Garrett Sunday at Heinz Field? “This one’s for Myles,” Cleveland Browns running back Kareem Hunt had said last week. What?
A 38- 7 beatdown by the Steelers, the Browns’ 17th consecutive loss in Pittsburgh?
I don’t think that’s what Hunt had in mind, but it was a lot of fun to watch, wasn’t it? Not for Cleveland fans, of course. If you listen closely, you probably can hear them saying “Same Old Browns!”
It was supposed to be different this season, the biggest regular- season game between the two teams in more than a quarter- century. Garrett was expected to give the Browns their best chance at ending the Steelers’ winning streak. He had been most responsible for their 4- 1 start by creating eight turnovers with his six sacks, 10 quarterback hits, 15 quarterback pressures, 3 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. He had emerged as the early leading candidate for the NFL defensive player of the year award. Mike Tomlin talked about his “freakish talent” last week.
But Garrett did next- tonothing and climbed on the Browns’ quiet team bus back to Cleveland after not just being embarrassed by the Steelers, but after losing ground to T. J. Watt for that defensive player of the year thing. His one sack in the second quarter, when he powered through Chuks Okorafor, Kevin Dotson and James Conner to get to Ben Roethlisberger, came with the Browns trailing, 24- 7. The Steelers’ domination would continue, getting worse and worse for the Browns. The 31point loss was their worst against the Steelers since the 2010 season when they were beaten, 41- 9, in Cleveland.
“I don’t know the last time I came out of a game with eight minutes to go, so that’s a good feeling,” Roethlisberger said.
Garrett also was out of the game by the time Mason Rudolph took over the Steelers offense. Rudolph probably didn’t have to worry about Garrett ripping off his helmet and clubbing him over the head with it, as happened in the game in Cleveland in November before Garrett was suspended for the final six games of the season. The way the offensive line was blocking, Garrett wasn’t going to get close to him. The line, playing without All- Pro guard David DeCastro, was that good.
“This game was going to be defined by the bigs,” Tomlin said. “Our bigs’ ability to stop the run. Our bigs’ ability to protect Ben and win the line of scrimmage for us in the run game. We talked openly about it all week. A synopsis of this game in a nutshell is our big people on both sides of the ball really answered the challenge and played ‘ A’ football.”
Dotson, a rookie in for DeCastro for the third time this season because of DeCastro’s knee injury and now abdominal injury, said it was just another day at the office against Garrett, that it wasn’t about any sort of retribution, that it was just about stacking another win.
“It was way calmer than everyone expected,” Dotson said. “It wasn’t like we were out there brawling and fighting and thinking about last year.”
Dotson gave credit to Al Villanueva and Okorafor for doing much of the heavy lifting against Garrett.
“I think our coaches had supreme confidence in our tackles,” Dotson said.
It wasn’t just that the line largely kept Garrett and the defensive front off Roethlisberger. It also was that it opened holes for the Steelers to run for 132 yards, three kneeldowns at the end by Rudolph aside. Conner ran for 101 yards on 20 carries, his third 100- yard game of the season. He easily outrushed the Browns, who came in as the NFL’s No. 1 rushing team, averaging 188.4 yards per game. The Browns finished with 75 rushing yards, 27 coming by backup Dontrell Hilliard in garbage time.
“The Browns had a great defense, but everything starts up front with the line,” Conner said. “Our O- line, our tight ends, they gets things going. Any type of success we have in the run game is all up to them.”
That success started early on the Steelers’ first drive when Conner had four carries for 27 yards to set up a Chris Boswell field goal. The blocking might have been at its best late in the third quarter when the Steelers called eight consecutive run plays that included a successful sneak by Roethlisberger — imagine that — on a fourth- and- goal play from the Cleveland 5 and a 3- yard touchdown run by Chase Claypool on the next play.
“It felt like old Bill Cowher offense,” Roethlisberger said. “It felt like turn around and hand [ the ball] to Jerome Bettis 20 times in the second half. Hey, whatever you have to do to win a football game.”
It was another efficient day for Roethlisberger, who completed passes to seven different receivers, threw a 28- yard touchdown pass to James Washington and didn’t have an interception for the third consecutive game. That gave him 11 touchdowns passes with just one interception for the season.
“This was a good win for us,” Roethlisberger said. Tomlin agreed.
“We were varsity today.” So did Conner.
“It comes down to respect. We just want our respect.”
The Steelers earned plenty on this gorgeous fall afternoon.
None more so than for their work against Garrett.