The Pittsburgh Steelers got back on track on Monday Night Football, beating the Cleveland Browns 26-22 in Week Two thanks to two defensive touchdowns.
The Steelers won the coin toss and chose to defer, so Cleveland opened up the game with possession. K Chris Boswell’s opening kickoff was a touchback, and the Browns started at their own 25. On the first play, a pass intended for TE Harrison Bryant by QB Deshaun Watson was dropped and popped up into the air, intercepted by OLB Alex Highsmith off a tip by S Minkah Fitzpatrick. Highsmith returned the interception for a touchdown and the Steelers took a 7-0 lead on the first play from scrimmage.
Cleveland picked up a first down on a five-yard gain to WR Amari Cooper on third and 1 on their next drive, and two plays later Watson found WR David Bell for a 14-yard pickup. A penalty on OT Dawand Jones put the Browns into a second and 17 later in the drive, but Chubb ran for nine yards and Cleveland faced a third and 8, where Watson was incomplete to WR Elijah Moore on a nice breakup by CB Joey Porter Jr. K Dustin Hopkins nailed a 43-yard field goal and the Browns cut the lead to 7-3 with 8:46 left in the first quarter.
The following kickoff was a disaster, with KR/WR Gunner Olszewski catching a punt that was heading out of bounds and stumbling out at the nine-yard line. The Steelers opened the drive with a seven-yard reception by WR Allen Robinson II, but QB Kenny Pickett made a bad throw on his second pass and was incomplete, and on the third play of the drive he was intercepted by S Grant Delpit and the Browns took over at the Pittsburgh 19.
DL Larry Ogunjobi knocked the Browns back on their first play with a sack that caused a six-yard loss. On third and 16 two plays later, Watson threw an incomplete pass. The Browns came out for another field goal, but Hopkins was no good from 43 yards. The Steelers took over at their own 25-yard line.
Back-to-back unsuccessful runs gave the Steelers a third and 13, which became a third and 18 after a false start against OT Chukwuma Okorafor. RB Jaylen Warren picked up 15 yards on a swing pass and the Steelers brought the punt team. P Pressley Harvin III booted a 55-yard punt that was downed at the Cleveland five-yard line.
On third and 4 from the Cleveland 11, the Browns picked up 17 yards on a completion to Cooper, and then Chubb broke off a 20-yard run on the next play down to the 48. On third and 1, Watson was incomplete on a rollout with good pressure by Highsmith, but the Browns appeared to pick up a conversion on a run by Watson on fourth and 1. The Steelers challenged the ruling, and it was ruled that Watson fumbled and it was recovered by Ogunjobi. Pittsburgh took over at its own 42.
A false start against Okorafor knocked the Steelers back five yards, and then Olszewski fumbled on the next play and the Browns recovered, returning it to their own 23-yard line. Three plays later, the Browns found the end zone on a reception by RB Jerome Ford, but RB Nick Chubb suffered a gruesome injury during the drive and was carted off. The Browns went for two after CB Patrick Peterson went offsides on the extra point, and the Browns successfully went for two and took an 11-7 lead with 14:02 left in the first half.
On the ensuing drive, the Steelers hit an explosive play with Warren gaining 30 yards on a reception on third and 3, but the Steelers couldn’t do anything else. Harvin punted 31 yards to the Cleveland 9, where the Browns would take over. They went three-and-out, and Austin returned the Corey Bojorquez punt 14 yards to the Cleveland 39.
After gaining five yards on three plays, the Steelers settled for a 52-yard Chris Boswell field goal to trim the lead to 11-10 with 9:10 left in the half. The Browns followed with a three-and-out, and Warren continued his impressive first half with an 11-yard reception for a first down. On the next play, Pickett found WR George Pickens for a 71-yard touchdown, and the Steelers took a 16-11 lead, and then failed the two-point conversion attempt with 6:05 left in the first half.
The Browns went three-and-out on the next drive, and a punt catch interference penalty against Cleveland set the Steelers up at their own 47. On third and 8, Pickett went to the sideline and found WR Calvin Austin III for a first down, but the next three passes were incomplete, and the Steelers punted.
Cleveland took over at its own 25, and on second down, TE David Njoku picked up 29 yards on a catch-and-run. A few plays later the Browns converted a third and 2 thanks to a facemask penalty by CB Chandon Sullivan. Two plays later, OLB T.J. Watt swatted a pass down and on the very next play, he brought down Watson and officially set the Steelers single-season sack record. Hopkins hit a 55-yard field goal on the next play, and the Browns made it a two-point game at 16-14 with 22 seconds left in the first half.
The Steelers got the ball to open the second half, and on third and 10 Pickett hooked up with Pickens again for a 25-yard gain. Two plays later, Warren picked up a first down on a five-yard carry, but the Steelers failed to pick up another first down and Boswell hit from 50 yards to give the Steelers a 19-14 lead with 11:51 left in the second half.
On the second play of Cleveland’s drive, Ford ripped off a 69-run yard run down to the Pittsburgh one-yard line. Two plays later, RB Pierre Strong Jr. scored from the one-yard line and the Browns took a 22-19 lead after a successful two-point conversion with 10:01 left in the second half.
On the second play of Pittsburgh’s drive, Pickett went back to Pickens and gained 23 yards, but Pickett was sacked by DT Maurice Hurst on the next play and the Steelers never recovered, punting away a few plays later.
The Browns had an eight-play drive that was killed with an unnecessary roughness penalty by Watson and Cleveland punted. The first two plays of Pittsburgh’s drive saw RB Najee Harris run for 21 and then 17 yards, and the Steelers were set up at the Cleveland 39. But they didn’t get anything on the next two runs, with WR Calvin Austin III losing two yards on a second-down run, and the Steelers faced a difficult third and 9. Pickett was incomplete, and the Steelers had to punt from the Cleveland 41. But Harvin unleashed a perfect punt, pinning the Browns at their 1-yard line.
On third and 6 from the Cleveland 5, WR Amari Cooper caught a ball down the left sideline for 18 yards and a first down. Two plays later Cooper came through again with a 23-yard gain to the Cleveland 46. The Browns went no-huddle after a seven-yard gain by Ford, and he followed it up with another seven-yard pickup.
A holding penalty negated a third-down conversion by the Browns later in the drive, and on third and 12, Watson was flagged for another facemask penalty and Cleveland faced third and 26. On that play, TE David Njoku had the ball punched out by LB Cole Holcomb and the Steelers took over at their own 44.
Pittsburgh went three-and-out, with Pickett getting sacked on third down. Harvin booted another awesome punt, 61 yards down to the Cleveland 6-yard line.
On third and 13 from the Cleveland three-yard line, Watson found a wide-open Moore for a 16-yard gain and a first down. Two plays later though, Watson was strip-sacked by Highsmith and T.J. Watt recovered the fumble and took it back for a touchdown. Boswell’s extra point was good, and the Steelers took a 26-22 lead with 6:58 left in the game.
Cleveland took over at its own 20, and Ford picked up 9 yards on first down. But after a first down run, Cleveland’s drive stalled out and the Browns punted with 4:37 remaining. The Steelers proceeded to go three-and-out from their one 25. Harvin’s punt was fair caught at the Cleveland 25 with 2:55 to go.
The Browns quickly reached midfield, with a 14-yard completion to Moore on the fourth play of the drive getting them to the 50. But the Steelers defense tightened up, and on fourth and 9 with one minute left, Watson was incomplete to WR Donovan Peoples-Jones.
The Steelers kneeled out the rest of the clock and secured the win.
Pittsburgh moves to 1-1 and will head to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders on Sunday Night Football.
