COIN TOSS: Steelers win the toss and elect to defer. Cleveland gets the football first.
1:12 p.m. – What Went Right: Forcing an opponent to kick red zone field goals is a recipe for success, and that's what the Steelers managed to do after Cleveland took the opening kickoff and moved to a first-and-goal at the 8-yard line. Baker Mayfield completed 4-of-5 for 42 yards on the 13-play drive, but after Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt shared a sack on third-and-goal from the 7-yard line, Chase McLaughlin came on and kicked a 30-yard field goal with 8:09 left in the first quarter.
1:21 p.m. – What Went Wrong: The Steelers netted one first down on their opening possession on an 11-yard pass to Pat Freiermuth, but on a subsequent third-and-9, Chuks Okorafor was flagged for an illegal formation for not lining up on the line of scrimmage. Ben Roethlisberger's pass on third-and-14 was incomplete. Pressley Harvin III's 38-yard punt had the Browns start their second possession at the 15-yard line.
FIRST QUARTER: Browns 3, Steelers 0
1:33 p.m. – What Went Right: On the first play of the second quarter, the Browns elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Steelers 39-yard line. Nick Chubb took the handoff, and after Cam Heyward collapsed the one side of the Browns offensive line, Devin Bush and T.J. Watt stuffed Chubb for a 1-yard loss.
1:42 p.m. – What Went Wrong: The Steelers ended up with a 31-yard field goal from Chris Boswell that tied the game, 3-3, with 9:18 left in the first half, but there could have been so much more. After a 17-yard reception by Diontae Johnson, a holding penalty on James Washington nullified a 17-yard run by Ray-Ray McCloud that had the ball at the Cleveland 1-yard line. On the next play, a 16-yard run by Najee Harris to the Cleveland 2-yard line was nullified by a holding on Kendrick Green.
2:02 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers defense was holding its own through this portion of the second quarter by posting back-to-back three-and-outs. On the first of those, Nick Chubb was stuffed for no gain on first down, and then Baker Mayfield threw consecutive incomplete passes. On the second, a 5-yard sack by Chris Wormley on first down was followed by consecutive incomplete passes. With 6:07 left in the first half, the Steelers began at their 37-yard line.
2:16 p.m. What Went Wrong: The possession could've ended with a Steelers touchdown and should've ended with a field goal, but all it ended up with was an injured Chris Boswell. On a possession that had Najee Harris rush four times for 30 yards and catch a short pass for 3 more, the Steelers had a first-and-10 at the Cleveland 11-yard line at the two-minute warning. After an incomplete pass, and a 7-yard sack by Myles Garrett, Harris' final 8 yards on the possession brought Boswell onto the field to attempt a 28-yard field goal. But it was a fake, with the direct snap going to Boswell who was trying to find a receiver in the end zone. Unable to find an open receiver, Boswell threw incomplete and took a big hit from defensive tackle Jordan Elliott. Boswell was taken to the locker room before the end of the first half.
HALFTIME: Steelers 3, Browns 3
2:49 p.m. – What Went Wrong: The Steelers went three-and-out on the opening possession of the second half and following Pressley Harvin's 44-yard punt and an illegal block penalty on the Browns, Cleveland started at their `14-yard line. Eight plays later, D'Ernest Johnson capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run in which he cut back inside Devin Bush on a stretch play to give the Browns a 10-3 lead with 9:36 remaining in the third quarter. Nick Chubb started the possession with a 21-yard run, and the Browns used formation to create matchups that allowed them to gash the Steelers defense for 15, 21, and 8 yards.
3:07 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers answered the Browns touchdown drive with one of their own, which covered 78 yards in 12 plays and ended with Najee Harris vaulting into the end zone to complete an 8-yard touchdown run. Ben Roethlisberger converted one third down with a 12-yard pass to Diontae Johnson, and Harris bulled his way for enough yardage to convert a fourth-and-1 from the Pittsburgh 48-yard line. With Chris Boswell out of the game with a concussion, the Steelers went for the 2-point conversion following Harris' touchdown. Roethlisberger ran it into the end zone from the shotgun formation, but Kendrick Green was flagged for holding. The Browns led, 10-9, with 3:39 left in the third quarter.
3:28 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers answered, this time with a 13-play, 83-yard drive that was capped by a marvelous catch by Pat Freiermuth for a 2-yard touchdown that converted a fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line. Ben Roethlisberger converted a first-and-20 with a 24-yard throw to Zach Gentry, and then Chase Claypool took a short pass and muscled his way to the 2-yard line for a 14-yard gain. With 11:04 left in the fourth quarter, the Steelers led, 15-10.
3:38 p.m. – What Went Right: After a first half where both offenses were AWOL, they were moving up and down the field in the second half. The Browns started the possession getting the ball to tight end David Njoku, and they moved across midfield. Baker Mayfield ran for 5 yards to convert a third-and-4 for a first down at the Steelers 34-yard line. On second-and-8, Mayfield completed a pass to Jarvis Landry, but Joe Schobert forced a fumble that T.J. Watt recovered at the Steelers 20-yard line.
4:04 p.m. – What Went Right: After the Steelers defense held and turned the ball over on downs at the Pittsburgh 26-yard line with 1:53 left on the clock, the offense needed one first down to close it out. After a run by Najee Harris gained 2 yards, that first down came when Ben Roethlisberger threw a perfect strike to Diontae Johnson on a quick slant, and Johnson used his speed to turn it into a 50-yard gain to the Cleveland 22-yard line. On the game's final play, Roethlisberger ate some time by running around and then threw the ball high into the end zone to kill the final six seconds.
FINAL SCORE: Steelers 15, Browns 10
