Gridiron Report: Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns

Written By Anthony Cugini, Staff Writer

The Pittsburgh Steelers took down the Cleveland Browns 15-10. The win improves their record to 4-3 on the season.

The Steelers won, mostly because of their defense. This is nothing unusual, yet still surprising as the Browns offense has rarely struggled. The Steelers secondary was on display as they only allowed 225 total passing yards along with zero touchdowns. Pittsburgh was also able to shut down one of the best rushing games in the league as they held the Browns to only 96 yards on the ground.

T.J. Watt was on the top of his game once again, picking up 1.5 sacks while also recovering a fumble. The fumble came late in the fourth quarter. The Browns were driving up field when quarterback Baker Mayfield found receiver Jarvis Landry for an 11-yard pickup. Steelers linebacker Joe Schobert forced the fumble that was recovered by Watt to give Pittsburgh the possession.

Defensive end Cam Heyward continues to play well as he picked up a half sack. Defensive ends Chris Wormley and rookie Isaiahh Loudermilk each had a sack.

The Steelers offense wasn’t great, but they were able to do enough to pick up the win. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 22 of 34 passes for 266 yards and a touchdown. Ben had one of his better games of the year as this was the first game of the year he didn’t turn the ball over.

Rookie running back Najee Harris continues to shine, running the ball 26 times for 91 yards and a touchdown. Harris topped off his 8-yard touchdown run by leaping over a defender and into the end zone.

Rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth had one of his best games yet. Freiermuth had 4 catches for 44 yards and a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, the Steelers offense had been stifled and had a fourth and goal from the 2-yard line. Pittsburgh was down only one point but didn’t have the option to kick the field goal as kicker Chris Boswell left the game with a concussion. Roethlisberger threw a pass into the back of the endzone to Freiermuth. Through good coverage, Freiermuth was able to make a juggling catch while also getting both of his feet in the endzone.

Both Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool continue to step up to fill in for the injured JuJu Smith-Schuster. Johnson had 6 catches for 98 yards including a 50-yard catch and run to help seal the game for the Steelers. Claypool had 4 catches for 45 yards as well.

The Steelers will have a problem not a lot of teams have. Pittsburgh could potentially be without kicker Chris Boswell for their next game. Boswell picked up a concussion after being hit late on a fake field goal attempt. As Boswell was rolling out to his right, he was being chased by a Browns defender. A second after Boswell threw it he was hit in the head by the helmet of the defender. What should’ve been called a helmet to helmet hit, or even roughing the passer, was ignored.

The Steelers will either have to hope Boswell is healthy enough to play, or they’ll have to look elsewhere for a kicker for the upcoming week.

With the win, the Steelers sit one game out of first place in the division. Pittsburgh has now won three straight games and will look to make it four next Monday as they host the Chicago bears.

The Bears sit 3-5 on the season. They’re coming off their third straight loss as the 49ers beat Chicago 33-22. Rookie quarterback Justin Fields looks to be improving with each week. Fields gets a real test against Pittsburgh as he’ll have to deal with T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward coming after him. If the Steelers can play like they did against the Browns, it should be a good game to watch for Steeler fans.