Halftime came and it was all smiles in Pittsburgh. Up 27-3 after an almost-perfect first half, those smiles would be quickly wiped away by the end of the third quarter.
Yet, the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) held on to defeat the Cleveland Browns (0-1) in a game that featured two completely dominant performances from each side, one in each half. Fortunately for the home team, the scoreboard read 30-27 in their favor as the last seconds expired.
Shaun Suisham kicked a game-winning 41 yard field goal as time ran out to let the Steelers escape with the victory. And escape they did. Those three decisive points were the only ones scored by Pittsburgh in a second half that saw Cleveland storm back after an embarrassing first half performance.
Suisham and Billy Cundiff traded field goals in the early going before LeGarrette Blount scored the first touchdown of the season for Pittsburgh, giving his new team a 10-3 advantage. Antonio Brown had a big first half, scoring on a 35 yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger in the second quarter. Le’Veon Bell tacked on a 38 yard scamper to the end zone to make it 24-3 and Suisham added his second field goal right before halftime.
And then, everything went awry for Mike Tomlin, Roethlisberger and the Steelers. Brian Hoyer began to click in the Browns offense, despite the losses of top running back Ben Tate and Pro Bowl tight end Jordan Cameron on the way. Rookie Isaiah Crowell got into the end zone twice while the Pittsburgh offense stalled and stalled some more, and it was suddenly just a 27-17 lead. Cundiff kicked a field goal to open the fourth quarter and Travis Benjamin caught a nine-yard TD pass from Hoyer, tying the game and stunning the Steelers and the capacity crowd at Heinz Field.
With about 11 minutes to go, it was now a wide open game. Several punts were traded before Roethlisberger led the Steelers on a drive with 47 seconds and two timeouts remaining. Two passes to Markus Wheaton for 11 and 20 yards each set the Steelers up to spike the ball at the 24-yard line, setting up Suisham’s game-winner.
Roethlisberger finished the game 23-34 for 365 yards, a touchdown and an interception. His counterpart, Hoyer, was 19-31 for 230 yards and a touchdown. Roethlisberger threw for a career-high 278 yards in one half, notching that many in the opening two quarters. Le’Veon Bell was impressive with 109 yards on 21 carries and the touchdown. Antonio Brown had a team-high 116 yards on five catches, all in the first half as Cleveland shut him down the rest of the way. Markus Wheaton and Bell each had six catches. Browns receiver Andrew Hawkins led all players with eight catches, totaling 87 yards. Cleveland’s Terrance West had a 1oo-yard day on 16 carries.
There was just one turnover in the game, by Roethlisberger. His interception was thrown to linebacker Karlos Dansby on an ill-advised throw he forced on a sideline route that never developed. He also fumbled, but it was recovered by the Steelers. Troy Polamalu led the Steelers with 11 tackles while Donte Whitner had 13, 12 of which were solo, for Cleveland. Three Steelers had sacks: Jarvis Jones, Cameron Heyward and Jason Worilds.
Also of note, there was a controversial play in the second quarter when Antonio Brown had a big punt return. The last opponent between he and the end zone was Browns punter Spencer Lanning. Brown appeared to try to hurdle Lanning, but ended up kicking him right in the face, which drew a penalty flag for unnecessary roughness.
The Steelers now have a short week, heading to Baltimore on Thursday evening for another AFC North matchup. The Ravens (0-1) lost 23-16 to the Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) in Baltimore.
