Myles Garrett's Grim Reaper costume was cute, but Ben Roethlisberger had the last laugh.
Ben Roethlisberger upstages Myles Garrett’s Grim Reaper and tacks another win on the Browns’ tombstone
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
The latest Browns’ debacle against the Pittsburgh Steelers could be summed up by the comings and goings of the main protaganists.
Myles Garrett arrived at FirstEnergy Stadium bedecked in Halloween costume as the Grim Reaper with the names of his career sack victims encrypted on a black cape.
Garrett enjoys a good gag, and this very public entrance to a must-win game followed a holiday display of tombstones on his lawn at home bearing the same names.
Three hours later, it was one of those victims, Ben Roethlisberger, who had the last laugh before boarding his broom back to Pittsburgh.
Roethlisberger walked out of the house he’s owned for 18 years smiling from ear to ear after bagging a 15-10 victory, the 12th overall in his 15th career game – and most likely last – in Cleveland.
It was the football equivalent of egging Baker Mayfield’s house in a Progressive Insurance commercial.
At 39 and on his last creaky legs, Roethlisberger figured to go quietly into the night. He hadn’t won in Cleveland since the 2017 season and this Steelers’ offense is among the worst he’s had. Also, the Steelers were forced to play the second half without kicker Chris Boswell, who suffered a concussion on a fake field-goal pass into the end zone brainfarted by coach Mike Tomlin near the end of the first half.
But Roethlisberger mustered two touchdowns in the second half to Mayfield’s one, improving his overall record against his home-state rival to 24-3-1.
“The man has been great for a long time, and he has been great here for a long time,” said Garrett, who had one sack but saw his personal record against Roethlisberger fall to 1-3-1. “It’s tough. But we will see him again, and we will get the chance to return the favor when he is at his house. It hurts that we could not protect our house, but his home is not safe, either.”
For most of the day, Roethlisberger’s quick deliveries rendered Garrett’s rushes against rookie left tackle Dan Moore futile. But on the biggest offensive play of the game, Roethlisberger converted a fourth-and-goal pass from the 2 to rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth, who made a juggling catch scraping the ball off the left forearm of safety Ronnie Harrison in glove coverage. The play gave the Steelers the lead for the only time with 11:04 to play in the fourth quarter.
“Hell of a throw and hell of a catch,” marveled Garrett.
The Browns’ offense had none of that all day long.
If it had been told before the game the Browns would only score 10 points, most everyone would have assumed Mayfield’s problematic left shoulder caused a horrendous day for the quarterback. But Mayfield wasn’t the reason the offense suffered.
Coach Kevin Stefanski never got in a rhythm calling plays after his opening script was tainted by an Austin Hooper drop that resulted in a field goal rather than a walk-in touchdown. Nick Chubb had his usual sub-par game against the Steelers’ suffocating defense (16 carries for 61 yards and a 3.8 average). And, most devastating of all, Mayfield’s pair of $15 million-a-year receivers played like they'd seen ghosts.
On the last two series alone, Landry had a fumble pried loose by former Browns linebacker Joe Schobert at the Steelers’ 20-yard line, Beckham short-armed a high but catchable ball in traffic inside the 15, and Landry had two drops at the 20 and the 10.
All of which added up to the Browns’ third defeat to playoff-caliber AFC foes -- Kansas City, the Chargers and Pittsburgh -- after failing on multiple possessions on offense in the fourth quarter.
Mayfield shook off four sacks in the first half and put together one touchdown drive in the third quarter completed on a 10-yard run by D’Ernest Johnson. Mayfield's shoulder stayed in place even after a daring, desperate run for a first down that resulted in a hard fall from a push out of bounds that looked serious until he popped up, sprinted back on the field and punched his fist in the air.
“The play … was incredible,” Landry said. “He bounced up to show the energy and passion he has. Looking back at it, it sucks I did not make those plays, because his effort was something that should be commended.”
Mayfield was 20 of 31 for 225 yards and no turnovers. It was the third game in his seven played that he didn’t throw for a touchdown.
Year 2 in Stefanski’s offense was supposed to take everybody to a higher level with 30 points a game a realistic goal. Instead, it appears that defenses have caught up to the play-action game that can’t produce when the team doesn’t have a two-score lead. This was the Browns' fourth game in eight with 17 or fewer points.
Landry had five receptions and two drops in 10 targets for 65 yards.
Beckham had one catch on his only official target for 6 yards because the short-armed try was negated by a roughing-the-passer call on linebacker Alex Highsmith.
Rashard Higgins had two catches and one drop in four targets for 27 yards, and one costly false start.
Hooper had four catches and one drop in six targets for 26 yards.
“I am looking at it from the entire offense and we scored 10 points,” Stefanski said. “That is not good enough. I am sure there are areas in the pass game that have to improve. I know there are areas that we can helps as coaches. We just have to do it. Talking about it is not going to get it done.”
So the Browns hit the unofficial mid-point of their 17-game season with a 4-4 record, good for last place in the AFC North. Baltimore is 5-2, Cincinnati 5-3 and Pittsburgh 4-3.
“We need to be worried about us [not our rivals],” Mayfield said. “I am sure all around within the sports media world, it is going to be ‘the world is falling down,’ but we are going to handle it within the building and make the corrections we need to execute. We have a good enough team. It is just that we are kicking ourselves in the foot right now.”
Or something like that.
They’re on to Cincinnati.
