Steelers Win Thriller Over Browns
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns combined for six turnovers, more than 100 penalty yards and five lead changes in an ugly, but dramatic Monday Night Football opener at Acrisure Stadium. The Steelers still struggled to create offense against a strong Browns defense, but two defensive touchdowns propelled them to a 26-22 victory nonetheless.
The Steelers won the toss and deferred their option to the second half, bringing Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland offense out first. Their possession lasted barely a full play, as Alex Highsmith corralled a tipped pass intended for Harrison Bryant and took it 30 yards back for a touchdown.
Trailing 7-0 nine seconds in, the Browns repeated their open to the game and came out to the 25-yard line for their second possession. A first down throw to Amari Cooper and a couple of chunk runs from Nick Chubb got the Browns down into the redzone.
But a holding penalty on rookie Dawand Jones set them back to a second and 17 and Joey Porter Jr. deflected a pass on third down against Elijah Moore to force a 43-yard field goal attempt, which Dustin Hopkins made to get the Browns on the board at 7-3.
The Steelers took over for their first possession at their own nine-yard line and Kenny Pickett gave the ball right back to Cleveland when Grant Delpit intercepted his third pass of the game.
Still, the Steelers' defense held Clevland to -6 yards and a missed field goal on the ensuing possession. Larry Ogunjobi sacked Watson for a loss of seven yards to get them behind schedule.
The Steelers took back over at their own 33-yard line, but lost eight yards on their first three plays, thanks in large part to a false-start penalty on Chukwuma Okorafor. An 18-yard catch and run from Jaylen Warren couldn't offset it and Pressley Harvin was brought on to boom a 55-yard punt.
The Browns rode Chubb on their next possession, as he picked up 35 yards to get his unit over midfield. Watson appeared to convert a fourth-and-one with his legs to keep the drive alive as the first quarter ended, but Montravius Adams punched the ball out. Mike Tomlin challenged the spot and the review revealed that it was Ogunjobi, not Watson, had recovered the ball.
The Steelers took over but once again, couldn't get out of their own way. Pickett hit Olszewski on the right side for a completion, but he was hit hard and immediately fumbled back to Delpit, who recovered the ball and returned it to the opposite 23-yard line.
The Browns moved inside the 10-yard line with an eight-yard connection between Cooper and Watson, but the entire stadium fell silent after the ensuing play, as Chubb suffered a brutal knee injury that was gruesome enough that the television broadcast did not show a replay.
Cleveland eventually found the endzone on a four-yard pass from Watson to Chubb's backup, Jerome Ford and he ran in the two-point conversion to make it 11-7 with 14:07 left until halftime.
The next Steelers drive ended in another punt, despite a 30-yard catch from Jaylen Warren. Luckily, a sack from Demarvin Leal and a 14-yard punt return from Calvin Austin set the offense up with good field position over midfield. But Pickett's inaccuracy held the offense back again and Boswell came on to knock through a 52-yard field goal.
But the Steelers picked up some momentum after a Browns three-and-out when Warren converted a difficult third down with a catch and run through multiple defenders. Then Pickett hit a wide-open George Pickens streaking across the middle of the field, and he ran the final 55 yards to the endzone for a touchdown. The ensuing two-point conversion was no good, but the Steelers still led 16-11.
Cleveland turned in their third three-and-out of the game and Pittsburgh, not able to keep their momentum going, did the same. Pickett had open receivers for the taking, but couldn't connect.
Watson got the ball back and found his tight end, David Njoku, who ran through three weak arm tackles from the Steelers for a first down to give his offense a 29-yard gain and some life. But the Steelers' defensive line bowed up, deflecting a couple of passes and sacking Watson to force Hopkins to attempt another field goal, which he made, and head to halftime with a 16-14 lead.
The Steelers got the ball coming out of halftime and brought some rhythm with them. Warren ran hard for a first down and Pickett found Pickens for deep gains, but it still ended in just a 50-yard field goal from Boswell and a 19-14 lead.
The Browns responded in lightning-quick fashion with a 69-yard run from Ford that ended just short of the endzone. Pierre Strong punched in a one-yard score and Watson skipped into the endzone for a two-point conversion that put the visitors ahead 22-19.
Despite some more chunk plays to Pickens and Warren, the Steelers punted again, trailing by three with less than eight minutes left in the third quarter after Pickett took an 11-yard sack.
Watson and company moved in bits an pieces with short runs and passes to midfield but the quarterback upended a promising drive with an unnecessary roughness penalty for pulling on Kwon Alexander's facemask and the Browns had to punt themselves.
Najee Harris began to heat up, running for a hard-earned 38 yards on two carries but after getting off schedule when Austin lost two yards on a second down jet sweep. One more incompletion later and the Steelers had to punt.
The Browns were putting together a grinding drive, gaining 35 yards on 11 plays in 4:14, but their long march was cut short when Cole Holcomb forced a fumble from Njoku's hands at the Cleveland 40-yard line.
But it was the same story again for the Steelers. A three-and-out, completed with a sack of Pickett on third and long, forced Harvin to unleash a booming punt that backed up their opponents to their own six-yard line.
Holcomb picked up right where he left off, stuffing Ford for a four-yard loss on first down. Watson misfired down the sideline to Cooper on second down and long. But on third and 13, Watson connected with Elijah Moore for a conversion.
It was all for naught, though as Highsmith ripped through Cleveland's offensive line to strip Watson at the 13-yard line. Watt picked up the loose ball and walked untouched into the endzone for a go-ahead touchdown with 6:58 left to play in regulation.
After the Steelers took a 26-22 lead, the defense electrified their already raucous home crowd with another stop, but Cleveland's defense did the same, holding Pickett three yards short of the first down on third and one.
Cleveland took the ball back with 2:55 to play and started their final possession. David Bell, Cooper and Moore combined for 30 yards on three catches to move out near midfield. But the young guys came up huge on the final possession for Pittsburgh. Elijah Riley sacked Watson on third and seven, then Porter Jr. defended Donovan Peoples-Jones into an incompletion on fourth down to seal the game.
Pickett knelt out the remaining one minute to secure the victory and get the Steelers back to .500.
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