The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Steelers win 15-10
by Bo Marchionte
Cleveland – The phrase was echoed by Steelers players made available postgame, the 15-10 win over Cleveland wasn’t pretty.
“Don’t ever take win against these guys in this stadium for granted ever” said Ben Roethlisberger to his teammates before the game. “It’s always hard fought. It’s always something special.”
The win marked Roethlisberger’s 25th win overall versus the Browns and his 12th on the road against Cleveland.
“I’m really just appreciative of the efforts of the guys in that locker-room,” said Mike Tomlin postgame. “Everybody just played a selfless game.”
It truly was a collective effort by both the offense and defense. Roethlisberger played mistake free football, the rookies made an impact, and the defense was able to stop one of the games best rushing attacks.
The first half was relatively quiet, until Pittsburgh tried some trickery that cost them their kicker.
The score was tied 3-3 minutes before the half when Pittsburgh elected to try a fake field goal which ended up with a disastrous ending.
Cleveland’s Jordan Elliott gave Steelers’ kicker Chris Boswell a jarring hit that left him with a concussion. It instantly changed the complexity of the game because Pittsburgh was now without an option of the kicking game.
“We were playing aggressively,” said Tomlin regarding the play. “We had a look that we liked. The ball wasn’t snapped in a timely manner, and it allowed them to take a picture of it.”
The snapshot revealed that Pittsburgh would be without Boswell and force the Steelers to be without the luxury of the kicking game for the entire second half.
“That’s a situation that no one wants to be in,” said Roethlisberger.
You are sitting there watching that game transpire. Ok, if they score, we are down by two and we don’t have a field goal. What are we going to do?”
The Steelers ended up scoring two second half touchdowns and each time were unable to convert the two-point conversion. Roethlisberger originally scrambled in on the first two-point try but a penalty negated the play and forced the Steelers to attempt the two-point conversion from the 12-yard line.
“It was the fourth or fifth option on that,” said Roethlisger. “They had a bunch of guys over to the left so that option was out.
Chase [Claypool] was the next option, and I was still going to force it to him, and I don’t know – I’m just
crazy, I guess. I wish it would have counted. That would have been a great story.”
Trailing 10-9 in the third quarter without a kicker made the game very interesting to say the least, especially in such a tightly contested up to that point.
Pittsburgh would add their final touchdown early in the fourth quarter with a long-sustained drive that covered 13 plays for 83 yards that ate up over five minutes of the quarter. Unable to convert the two-point conversion, the lead with five-points, with the Browns a touchdown away from taking the lead.
Cleveland would make things interesting in the fourth quarter. Driving the football down to Pittsburgh’s 32-yardline, Baker Mayfield hit receiver Jarvis Landry for a 11-yard reception.
Former Browns linebacker Joe Schobert came up with a huge, forced fumble that was recovered by T.J. Watt. Pittsburgh took over on downs and stopped the momentum of the Cleveland offense.
“It is something he (Joe Schobert) is known for doing,” said Jarvis Landry. “I really was not trying to fight for extra yards. I was trying to get down. He made a great play.”
The Browns defense would force a quick three and out. Giving Mayfield and company another shot to win the game.
Mayfield would guide the Browns offense down to the Steelers 30-yard line on their final drive. The connection between Mayfield and Landry on their final offensive play would be an incompletion. Leaving Pittsburgh with a chance to run out the clock.
“Bottom line is we did not make enough plays,” said Kevin Stefanski.
The win puts Pittsburgh at 4-3 and host the Chicago Bears next Monday night.
“It is days like today,” said Tomlin. “That give you and indication of what you could be. We’ll continue to write that story positively or negatively, but today was a good day.”
I bet Ice Cube would agree.
The Good
Stopping Chubb
Nick Chubb was averaging a whopping 5.8 yards per carry prior to todays match-up. Chubb would finish well below his outstanding average with just 3.8 yards per carry on 16 carries for 61-yards.
“It was huge,” said T.J. Watt. “We knew the run was going to be the biggest issue and the biggest problem to solve all week.”
The defense came together and allowed just enough in the passing game to offset was Cleveland is used to doing and putting the ball in Mayfield’s hands to win the game.
Offensive Rookies Big Impact
Ben Roethlisberger said he hasn’t personally thanked GM Kevin Colbert for both rookies Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth.
“No,” said Roethlisberger. “But I think Coach (Matt) Canada had a lot to do with it.”
The pair of rookies have combined for seven of the 13 offensive touchdowns scored by Pittsburgh. Harris with five and Freiermuth with two. Their two touchdowns today help seal the victory.
No Bonehead Plays by Ben
Roethlisberger plays a clean game. No fumbles or interceptions. That might have gone unnoticed but his ball security was a critical factor in keeping the game close.
Busting Balls
Only these kinds of responses happen after a win because nothing is laughed about after a loss. When veteran Cam Heyward to the podium postgame he had some fun with rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth who played collegiately at Penn State.
“Freiermuth got a win in Ohio,” joked Heyward. “That doesn’t happen often.”
Referring his own alma mater Ohio State having the best of their BIG-10 opponent.
The Bad
The Offensive Line Penalties
Some calls are clear and others a bit exaggerated, but none the less the holding call need to cease for this offense to really get going.
Pittsburgh ranks 12th overall in the National Football League with 12 offensive holding calls. Coach Tomlin has mentioned many times at the podium has these calls squash the teams flow and hampers their chances for success.
Defensively the Steelers are tied for third with nine ‘Roughing the Passer’ penalties. The third of these penalties was called late in the fourth quarter when linebacker Alex Highsmith went high on a hit to Baker Mayfield. On this crucial third-down play the Browns were able to changed a fourth-and-10 to a first-and-10, inside Pittsburgh territory.
If Cleveland would have taken the lead after that call and able to hold on, Highsmith would have been under heavy scrutiny. Luckily for Pittsburgh the defense stood strong and was able to hold the Browns out of the end zone.
And the Ugly
Boswell Leaving the Game
Playing the entire second half without a kicker is not a good thing. With punter Pressley Harvin III, lacking the skills to fill in in a pinch left the Steelers special teams is a bad place.
“There was a lot of discussion at halftime,” said Roethlisberger. “(Mike Tomlin) said he is not kicking so let’s just ready to go.”
Curious to see if the next punter will have a bit of a background in that area before being signed.