The Browns had only one play longer than 20 yards as the Pittsburgh defense just waited for the Browns to beat the Browns. (Pittsburgh Steelers)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is an analyst of the Cleveland Browns for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
PITTSBURGH, PA
Pick any Browns regime of expansion-era vintage and you will find a game in Pittsburgh just like Sunday’s.
Instead of Jameis Winston, it could have been Brandon Weeden or Jason Campbell throwing two picks.
Instead of Dustin Hopkins, it could have been Cody Parkey or Austin Seibert missing two field goals.
Instead of Kevin Stefanski, it could have been Pat Shurmur or Hue Jackson leaving Acrisure Stadium with another Browns loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This one was by the score of 27-14. Sound familiar? It should.
The Browns have now lost 21 consecutive times in the regular season at the confluence of the three, muddy rivers. And 16 of those have been two-score losses – by nine or more points. They’ve lost by 26-14, 27-14 (twice), 28-14 and by worse scores. Only five games have been close.
Jameis Winston, who made his first appearance ever in a game in Pittsburgh, summed it up pretty well.
“I feel the Pittsburgh Steelers let the Cleveland Browns beat the Cleveland Browns,” Winston said. “I don’t believe the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns. I believe the Cleveland Browns beat the Cleveland Browns.”
That’s the way it goes here for the Browns. Year after year, regime after regime, quarterback after quarterback. It never ends. No matter how good the Steelers are, they let the Browns beat the Browns.
Winston threw two interceptions – one to a defensive tackle -- and Hopkins had two deflating field-goal misses when the game was still competitive.
Punt returner Kadarius Toney fumbled a Pittsburgh punt. Earlier, Toney was flagged for taunting – after a fair catch – for tossing the football at a bewildered Steeler.
“Frustrating,” Toney said. “At the end of the day, you don’t try to do anything to hurt your team.”
Yes, the Steelers do that to teams.
They sucked the Browns into their methodical, plodding game when receiver George Pickens was made inactive with a hamstring injury. Pickens may be a hot head, but he gives the Pittsburgh offense a quick-strike dimension it hasn’t had for years.
Without Pickens, the Steelers played conservative, physical offense and just waited for Winston to make mistakes. Russell Wilson had an efficient day quarterbacking the Steelers to a 10-3 record – 6-1 with him at the helm. Wilson wound up with only 158 yards passing, but he connected twice for touchdowns and finished with a 101.1 passer rating.
“Our offensive line did a tremendous job,” Wilson said.
Until late in the fourth quarter, Myles Garrett was fairly ineffectual. With the game out of hand, Garrett recovered a Cordarrelle Patterson fumble forced by Isaiah McGuire and added a sack of Wilson.
That was more than T.J. Watt contributed for the Steelers. He had four tackles, one for a loss, and was credited with two quarterback hits. For his part, Watt set the tone for his team on the Browns’ first play from scrimmage when he beat Jack Conklin off the snap and buried Nick Chubb for a 5-yard loss.
Winston was probably over-cautious at first. He targeted Jerry Jeudy, the hottest receiver in the league over five weeks, only twice in the first half, and one resulted in a 35-yard touchdown. Jeudy finished with five catches on six targets for 64 yards.
“Yes, I was cautious,” said Winston (24 of 41 for 211 yards, two TDs, two INTs, 68.2 rating). “I did my best to take advantage when the opportunities were given. So I had to throw the ball away. I did miss a few opportunities that were there, and I’m going to drill those and get better from those, man. But for the most part, those two throws [that were intercepted] … it only takes two throws. Those two throws were going to be outcome-oriented.”
When Hopkins missed a 38-yard field goal at the end of the first half, the Browns were still in the game, down by 13-7. That was deflating, to be sure. But a 61-yard kickoff return by Jerome Ford to start the second half should have revived the Cleveland bench.
But an offensive pass interference penalty on receiver Michael Woods on a catch at the Steelers’ 1 threatened the scoring opportunity. And then Hopkins overcompensated for his first miss wide left and he blocked out a 43-yarder to the right.
“I had missed so many times left this year, I was like, ‘Well, I’m going to err right – and the wind there was blowing right to left – and I had a leg lock and erred too far.”
Hopkins was money in the bank last year. He made 33 of 36 field goal tries, including 8 of 8 from 50 and beyond. This year he is 16 of 25 after missing 6 of his last 9.
“I haven’t looked it up,” he said. “No one tell me. I didn’t know [my record] last year when things were going well. Chances were low statistically that this would happen.”
Stefanski defused the idea of changing kickers.
“He’s our kicker. He’s a veteran, he’s a pro. He’s our kicker,” he said.
At 3-10, what’s the use?
Now, what about Winston? Stefanski said he never thought of putting in Dorian Thompson-Robinson with the score 27-7 in the fourth quarter.
“Let’s worry about this one right now,” Stefanski said. “We lost as a team. I know he feels like he can play better, but we win and lose as a team.”
Yes, that’s usually the case for the Browns in Pittsburgh.