Steelers dispose of lifeless Browns
PITTSBURGH — Coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger kept a few personal streaks alive with Sunday’s 20-7 Steelers’ win over the Cleveland Browns.
Other than preserving their streaks of non-losing seasons, though, the whole place was in kind of a state of limbo. The Steelers finished 8-8 in a season that saw them start 0-4 and finish the first half at 2-6.
Sunday’s win capped a 6-2 second half that saw many of the pieces fall nicely into place.
But …
Not much else was known when the team conducted post-game interviews. Still to go in this grand scheme of scenarios was a Kansas City game in San Diego. A Chiefs’ win and the Steelers would be in the playoffs, looking at a wildcard game next weekend at Cincinnati. A Chargers’ win and the Steelers begin draft preparations.
Around all of the “what if” questions, though, there was pride.
“I’m proud of this group,” Tomlin said. “I’m proud of their ability to stay singularly focused, to fight the fight that’s in front of them and to put some of our past transgressions behind us. Not only today but over the second half of the season. It’s been a trying journey but a rewarding one in a lot of ways from a growth standpoint.”
Of course, this win over the hapless Browns may mean little in the grand scheme of things, but it perhaps best exemplifies what Tomlin spoke about.
Pittsburgh drew first blood when Roethlisberger passed to Jerricho Cotchery from 9 yards out for a 7-0 lead with 9:53 remaining in the first quarter. The play capped a 9-play, 62-yard drive that included a 24-yard pass to Antonio Brown.
Each team had a turnover and at least one punt before the Steelers got back into scoring range. Pittsburgh rode the running of Le’Veon Bell into the red zone and, eventually, into the end zone. Bell scored on a 5-yard run 4:22 before halftime to increase the Steelers lead to 14-0. The drive covered 67 yards on 14 plays.
Both defenses held to open the third quarter, the Steelers stopping Cleveland on fourth-and-3 at the Pittsburgh 33-yard line. The Steelers took over and went on a drive full of records.
Bell (1,259) passed Franco Harris (1,235) for the most yards from scrimmage by a Steelers rookie on that drive and Brown caught his sixth pass to become the first player in NFL history to record at least five catches and at least 50 yards in all 16 games.
“It’s an honor to be in the same category,” Bell said of Harris, who set his rookie record in 1972. “Franco Harris is one of the greatest runners to ever come through here and being mentioned with him is a great accomplishment.”
“It’s a blessing,” said Brown. “It’s something I can’t take for granted. The repertoire I’ve built with Ben over this time, the growth in me as a receiver, being a great teammate, playing along with other receivers, it’s something that is special. I want to build on it in 2014.”
Shaun Suisham capped the 11-play, 54-yard drive with a 30-yard field goal and a 17-0 Steelers lead with 3:50 remaining in the third quarter.
Brown finished the game with nine catches for 87 yards, both team highs. For the season, he caught 110 passes, second to Hines Ward’s record of 112, for a team record 1,499 yards.
Suisham added a 32-yard field goal with 8:26 remaining to pad the lead to 20-0. The kick capped a 4-play, 8-yard drive that came after a sack, punt from the end zone and facemask penalty on the return.
Cleveland got on the board 46 seconds ahead of the two-minute warning when Jason Campbell passed to Fozzy Whittaker on a screen pass that went for 35 yards and a touchdown.
“Obviously, we’re cognizant of what is going on in other stadiums, but that bed has been made weeks ago,” Tomlin said. “I appreciate the efforts today in terms of doing what we needed to do in our stadium. We’ll wait like everyone else and see what happens.”
“I’m really proud of what has happened,” Roethlisberger said after completing 19 of 31 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown. “We started 0-4 and things aren’t looking so good and we have one of the worst records in football. Guys continued to fight and never quit.”
After that rocky start, a lot of team building took place, most of which could carry over to next weekend or next season.
“We’re going to build on this,” Roethlisberger said. “Whether we build on it for next week or getting ready for next year, I think we have put together a good foundation. The team is playing well, so whatever we are preparing for and building on, we will do that.”
“As an offense, we are getting better every week,” Bell said. “We started off a little slow, but we continued to get better and better as the season went on. If we get a chance to play next week, we’re going to try to get better for next week.”