A little bit of weird to soothe an ugly Pittsburgh Steelers loss to the Cleveland Browns.
– This was the fourth 24-19 loss the Pittsburgh Steelers have been a part of. Until Thursday night, the most recent one came in 1995 against the Green Bay Packers. They were also defeated by the same score in 1986 by the Kansas City Chiefs and 1965 by the…Cleveland Browns. So their first and last 24-19 losses have come against the Browns.
Pittsburgh has won two games 24-19. Most recently, in 2020 against the Dallas Cowboys and in 1963 against…also the Dallas Cowboys.
– Cleveland came into the game having scored more than 20 points just once this year. Now, it has done it twice, both against AFC North opponents after posting 29 in a win over the Baltimore Ravens earlier this year.
– Cleveland also came into the game allowing 20-plus points in nine of 10 games this season. The only exception was holding Jacksonville to 13 in Week 2.
In their win over the Steelers, the Browns flipped the script. Scored 20 and held their opponent to under 20.
– On the one-year anniversary of firing Matt Canada, Nov. 21, the Steelers did their very best to honor him. Including the playoffs, Canada-led teams averaged 18.6 points per game. Pittsburgh scored 19 in its Thursday loss to the Browns.
– RB Najee Harris had 16 carries for 41 yards, the lowest output by a Steeler with at least 15 carries since RB Benny Snell Jr. in 2019. Snell held the exact same stat line in a 23-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals. The last Steeler to have worse output was Le’Veon Bell in 2013, rushing 18 times for 36 yards in a 37-27 win over the Detroit Lions.
– TE Pat Freiermuth’s 59 yards receiving were his most of 2024 and most in a game since Week 12 of last year, his 120-yard performance against the Cincinnati Bengals.
– QB Russell Wilson has been sacked 16 times this season. A whopping 12 of those, 75 percent, have come in the first half, including all four of his last night.
– The Steelers have 25 sacks through 11 games this season. They’re on pace to finish with only 38. If that holds, it’ll be their fewest since 2016. If it dips below 38, it’ll be their lowest since 2014. Remember this is a defense that notched 50-plus sacks in five-straight seasons from 2017-2021. They had 47 last season.
– For the second time this season, the Steelers allowed three rushing touchdowns in a game. They also gave up three in Week 10 against the Washington Commanders. It’s the first time they’ve allowed three rushing scores by two separate teams since 2013 when it happened three times.
– For those scoring at home, K Chris Boswell remains on pace to break David Akers’ NFL record for most field goals in a single-season. Akers had 44 in 2011. Boswell has 31 through 11 games, putting him on track to finish with 47.
– The Steelers’ defense held the Browns to just 1-of-10 on third down and yet lost the game. It’s the first time Pittsburgh allowed no more than one third-down conversion on 10-plus attempts and was defeated since a 2006 20-13 loss, one of those dastardly upsets against the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders went 1-of-11 that day.
Since third-down conversions have been tracked, it’s only the fifth time it’s happened to Pittsburgh. The same occurred in 2002 to the Houston Texans (what I would argue is the ugliest loss in Steelers’ history, even above the 51-0 defeat to Cleveland in 1989), 2001 to the Baltimore Ravens, and 1998 to the Detroit Lions.
– Since “downs” data was tracked, the Browns are just the third team to go 1-of-10 or worse on third down but be perfect on fourth down (minimum three attempts) and win the game. I believe data goes back to 1992 and surprisingly, they are the second team to do it this season, joining the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7, a 28-3 win against the New York Giants. The 1995 San Diego Chargers matched that in a 27-17 win also against the Giants. So the Steelers are the first non-Giants team to lose such a game.
Those other instances saw the Eagles and Chargers convert all three of their fourth-down attempts. The Browns converted all four of theirs.
– Steelers CB Donte Jackson is up to four interceptions on the season, the most he’s had since his rookie year. Since 2000, he and Levi Wallace are the only Steelers CBs to pick off four or more passes in their first year with the team. Wallace snagged four in 2022.
– DE Myles Garrett is the second player in as many seasons to post a three-sack game against the Steelers. The San Francisco 49ers’ Drake Jackson also did it in the 2023 season opener. Prior to them, it hadn’t happened since Terrell Suggs in 2011.
Garrett is the first member of the Cleveland Browns to do it since Courtney Brown in 2000. Anthony Pleasant also achieved that feat in 1994 though that came in a loss to the Steelers.
– Finally, going into Thursday, the Steelers had lost only 14 games in which they forced three turnovers while giving the ball away no more than once themselves. They were 137-14-0 in such games, a .907 winning percentage. Cleveland is now their 15th loss.
It happened to Pittsburgh earlier this year too. The Dallas Cowboys had the same stat line, three giveaways to one takeaway, in their Week 5 win. Prior to 2024, such a game hadn’t happened since 2005. Now, it’s occurred twice this season. It’s the first time to happen to Pittsburgh multiple instances in a season since 1988, the only other time it’s happened.
