Browns @ Steelers game review

In a game that was a difficult watch at times, the Pittsburgh Steelers came away with a 26-22 victory over their division rivals, the Cleveland Browns, to move to 1-1 on the season.

After a disastrous week 1 home loss to the 49ers, many thought that a second straight home defeat to start the NFL year would send the Steelers’ season spiralling into disarray. Mike Tomlin’s side started the game perfectly, though, with Alex Highsmith intercepting Deshaun Watson’s pass and taking it all the way to the endzone to put the Steelers 6-0 up after the first play from scrimmage. Chris Boswell, who had a perfect night, added the extra point and Acrisure stadium was electric with the Steelers up 7-0.

Highsmith’s pick-six was the start of a dominant performance by not only him individually, but the entire Steelers’ defense. Despite giving up a field goal on the drive that followed the pick-six, the defense continued to dominate, forcing its second turnover of the first quarter on a 4th down rushing attempt by Deshaun Watson, who looked originally to have converted the play. Mike Tomlin, however, challenged the ruling and it became clear that Montravious Adams had forced the fumble and Larry Ogunjobi had recovered it. The Steelers’ offense took the field, and the story was all too familiar. On their first play, a false start, on their second play a fumble by Gunner Olszewski that saw the Browns eventually take over on the Steelers 23-yard line. This was the offense’s second turnover of the first quarter, after Kenny Pickett threw an interception a few drives earlier, which resulted in a Browns missed field goal.

The Brown’s offense took advantage of the great field position and Deshaun Watson threw his first and only touchdown of the game to give his team the lead. The Browns then converted a two-point try. The play before the touchdown, though, Nick Chubb, who was having an excellent night, was carted off the field, after suffering a season ending knee injury. Chubb was having an excellent night, averaging over 6 yards per carry, and had he not left injured, the result of this matchup may very well have been different. We wish Nick Chubb a speedy recovery.

Kenny Pickett and his offense re-entered the field following the Browns’ short touchdown drive and the same pattern continued as the Steelers punted. It must be said that for the 2nd week in a row, Pickett did not have a good game, as he not only threw a bad interception, but missed several throws that you would expect to be routine for an NFL quarterback.

The Steelers offense put their first points of the game on the board on their following drive, but only thanks to a nice punt return from Calvin Austin III. After Austin’s return to Cleveland’s 39-yard line, the Steelers gained just 5 yards of offense, and Boswell nailed a 52 yard field goal.

Pickett and the offense’s one explosive play of the night did come in the first half though, with the Pickett to Pickens connection finally coming through in the form of a 71-yard touchdown. It was Pickens’ first game as WR1 on the Steelers, with Diontae Johnson out injured, and this touchdown catch and run helped him to the best statistical game of his young career, as he had 4 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. Despite Pickett’s rough game, he did well on this play to find Pickens despite the pressure up the middle. He took the hit, and still made the pass, one of few highlights for the offense in this game. It must also be mentioned, that on the play right before this touchdown, Jaylen Warren showed great effort to convert a 3rd and long with some tough yards after the catch, powering through multiple defenders for the first down. Warren had a nice receiving game, with 66 yards from 4 catches.

Following the Browns’ touchdown, the Steelers defense forced three straight 3 and outs. Towards the end of the half though, the Browns seemed to get into rhythm again, finding themselves with a 2nd and 7 on Pittsburgh’s 30-yard line. That’s when TJ Watt showed why he is still one of the best players in the league. The 2022 DPOY batted down Watson’s 2nd down pass attempt, then followed that up with a 3rd down sack to force the Browns to kick a field goal on what looked like a promising drive.

The teams went into halftime with the Steelers leading 16-14, largely thanks to their defense.

The Steelers received the ball to start the half, and the offense was able to form a drive by themselves. A few Pickens catches helped the offense move into field goal range, but a nice 3rd down stop by Denzel Ward in coverage forced a 50-yard field goal by Boswell, which he converted with ease. To exemplify how dismal the Steelers’ offense was, this drive ended at the Brown’s 31-yard line, and that is the furthest the Steelers’ offense made it down the field all night. Yes, they had the 71-yard touchdown, but to still not run a play past the opponents 30-yard line on offense is an embarrassment.

The defense, though, seemed to be in complete control, having allowed 3 punts and a field goal since Cleveland’s short touchdown drive. However, it all fell apart when Jerome Ford reversed a run that should have ended in a loss, and took the ball 69 yards, down to the one-yard line. The call was originally a 70-yard touchdown, but replays showed that Minkah Fitzpatrick’s last-ditch tackle had brought Ford down a yard short of the goal line. It seems on the play that as Ford was running into tacklers, Levi Wallace over committed, and didn’t keep Ford contained, which looked like his role on the play, allowing the running back to reverse field and complete a huge run. This was one of several poor plays from Wallace in this game, and with Desmond King II, and 2nd-round rookie Joey Porter Jr. behind him on the depth chart, some fans are calling for him to be benched.

Ford’s big run allowed the Browns to retake the lead, and because of a penalty by the Steelers on the PAT, just like on the first touchdown, the Browns converted a 2-point attempt from the 1-yard line, making it 22-19 Cleveland.

That Cleveland touchdown that was scored by Pierre Strong from a yard out was the last offensive points of the night from either team. The touchdown was scored was scored with 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, which shows again how poor the Steelers offense was, and how good their defense was (and how much the Browns seemed to miss Nick Chubb).

The rest of the 3rd quarter was filled with punts, making it a good time to mention that Steelers punter, Pressley Harvin III, had maybe the best night of his career, placing several of his punts inside the Browns’ 10-yard line. A big bounce-back game for Harvin, after Tomlin was critical of him following the 49ers loss.

The Steelers’ running game was awful all night, but late in the 3rd quarter it looked to be picking up as Najee Harris produced a 21-yard run, followed by a 17-yard run where he reversed field similar to Jerome Ford earlier in the game. The drive was killed though, when on 2nd and 7, Matt Canada ran his signature jet sweep to Calvin Austin III, which resulted in a 2-yard loss. Canada didn’t call his worst game, as Pickett did miss some throws, but this play was another example of his incompetency in the offensive coordinator role. Following a 3rd down incompletion, the drive ended in another punt.

The 4th quarter perfectly summarises this game. The Steelers entered the quarter trailing 22-19. Their offense totalled minus 7 yards, or minus 5 yards if you disregard the 2 kneel downs to end the game. They won the game 26-22…

The defense coordinated by Teryl Austin, who called a great game, started the 4th quarter by forcing a fumble on a 3rd down play that seemed to be ending with a regular tackle short of the line, but Cole Holcomb, formerly of the Washington Commanders, punched the ball free from David Njoku, and Damontae Kazee recovered it at the Steelers’ 44-yard line.

Yet again though, the Steelers’ offense struggled, as the Browns’ forced a three and out after Pickett was sacked on 3rd down for an 11-yard loss. The Steelers’ offensive line was certainly not convincing in this game either.

The defense was back on the field, but at this point they looked more likely to score than the offense. And that’s exactly what they did, when Alex Highsmith forced a fumble on Deshaun Watson, and TJ Watt was quickest to react, scooping the ball up and taking it into the endzone to give the Steelers the lead. A 2nd touchdown in one game for the Steelers’ defense, as many as the offense has scored in 2 weeks. Alex Highsmith was the MVP of the night, forcing the fumble here and having the pick-six earlier. Though, had TJ Watt not taken the ball all the way for the touchdown, the Steelers likely would have settled for a field goal given how the offense was playing.

If all their heroics weren’t enough already, the defense forced another Browns’ punt with under 5 minutes to go, giving Pickett and the offense a chance to run down the clock and end the game.

The offense used that opportunity to run 3 plays and gain 6 yards after Matt Canada dialled up what seemed to be an option-type play on 3rd and 1, where Pickett kept the ball himself and was tackled for a loss of 3 yards. Though the play certainly wasn’t executed correctly, the call by Canada was a questionable one on a 3rd and 1 during a drive that could seal the game.

Once again, the defense was on the field, needing to get a stop after the offense had been lacklustre. And once again, they did, with a 4th and 10 pass falling incomplete as Watson targeted Donovan Peoples-Jones down the right sideline. Rookie Joey Porter Jr. was in coverage on the play, and may have got away with a pass interference, but it wasn’t called, and the rookie did his job on the biggest play of the game. With a 3rd down PBU earlier in the game, Porter Jr. showed up when he needed to on the big downs, and certainly has a case to be moved up the depth chart, especially given how poor a game Levi Wallace had.

Despite the Browns’ 408 total yards, the Steelers’ defense dominated. They made big plays when it mattered, with 6 sacks, 4 turnovers and 2 touchdowns. Minkah Fitzpatrick did leave the game with an injury, following his last-ditch tackle on Ford, but providing his injury isn’t too serious, this defense has a chance to be up there with the best in the league this year, despite their poor week 1 showing. One criticism of the defense is that in the run game they were weak. A lot of that may be down to the injury of Cam Heyward but giving up 198 rush yards on 5.7 yards per carry is not acceptable. Although a big chunk of that yardage was on Ford’s 69-yard run, if Nick Chubb hadn’t got injured, the Brown’s likely would have broken 200 rushing yards.

The offense is disastrous. The play-calling has been bad, Kenny Pickett’s play has been poor, and the run game has been awful. You would hope Pickett’s play will improve, and given how he finished last year, there is still a chance it will. Matt Canada is clearly not a top offensive coordinator, but he is likely going nowhere this season, so the run game for the Steelers is their biggest concern. On 21 attempts, they ran for 55 yards. That’s 2.6 yards per carry. It doesn’t get much worse than that. The offensive-line needs to improve its run blocking fast, and its pass protection isn’t much better. That group has a lot to do.

It wasn’t a pretty win for the Steelers, but they are 1-1 with a very winnable game at the Raiders coming up. If Matt Canada, Kenny Pickett and the offense can improve to even just an average level, then this team can cause problems. However, if the offense continues to play the way it is, it will be a long season for the Pittsburgh Steelers.