In another showdown between two AFC North rivals, the Cleveland Browns encountered an all-too-familiar ending when they have faced the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field/Acrisure Stadium every year since 2004.
Another loss. Another painful loss at the hands of "Big Brother."
This time around, the Steelers' star edge rushing duo of T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith accounted for two of the team's three touchdowns, with Highsmith returning an interception for a touchdown and forcing a fumble recovered by Watt for the game-winning scoop-and-score in an improbable 26-22 victory.
The home winning streak against their AFC North rivals extended to 20 and counting, though was overshadowed by a gruesome left knee injury to star running back Nick Chubb.
His season ended two plays into the second quarter after his knee bent the wrong way when hit low by Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. He wen to the hospital as a precaution before he returned to Cleveland.
CBS NFL insider Josina Anderson tweeted about initial discussions of Chubb needing two surgeries to fix his knee, with one coming soon and another "several weeks after," though this is "preliminary talk" only. She also said that Chubb's meniscus was injured in addition to possible severe ligament damage.
The Browns did not offer the specifics of the extend of the injury, but the damage may be serious enough to where at least two of the four ligaments—the ACL, MCL, PCL, and LCL—may be torn.
It was also the same knee in which Chubb tore all ligaments except the LCL in 2015, back when he was with the Georgia Bulldogs in a game against the Tennessee Volunteers, along with cartilage damage. He missed the remainder of the season but came back for the 2016 year.
Even with him on the sidelines, the Browns protected a three-point lead and were facing 2nd & 9 at their own 20 with 7:06 left in the 4th quarter. However, danger came as both Watt and Highsmith sensed a play action pass was coming. Both widened their stances to get a better attacking angle.
And they were right.
Highsmith, who started the night with a 30-yard pick six on the first offensive snap by Cleveland, blew past left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. and swatted the ball out of Deshaun Watson's hands when the Browns' quarterback was running to the right. The fourth and final turnover of the game ended up in the hands of Watt, who went untouched across the goal line.
They looked to respond to take back the lead or win the game, but two Steelers sacks, the first by edge rusher Markus Golden and the second by backup safety Elijah Riley, were followed up by incomplete passes, the latter one causing some controversy as it appeared as if Joey Porter Jr. got away with pass interference, though the ball was headed out of bounds short of intended receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, making the ball non-catchable.
And this was after Jerome Ford, Chubb's replacement, ran for 106 yards and caught a 3-yard touchdown pass. Watson also completed 22 of 40 yards for 235 yards with said touchdown and an interception.
However, the Browns' miscues cost them a chance to win in Pittsburgh for the first time since 2003, playoff victory from 2020 aside.
They were hoping that the win would be the start of a new era in Browns football. However, all that followed up were much of the same old Browns. They missed the playoffs in 19 of the last 20 years, including two straight.
They had four turnovers—three fumbles and one interception—and were penalized eight times for 81 yards. Despite that, they looked like they were in good position when Ford raced for 69 yards to set up a 1-yard touchdown dive from Pierre Strong Jr. that put the Browns up 22-19 midway through the third quarter.
The Steelers' offense did mostly nothing for the majority of the second half, gathering angry boos from the crowd and chants to fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
They avoided their first 0-2 start since 2019, and despite that the offense continued to sputter. Kenny Pickett finished with 15 completions of 30 for 222 yards, with over half of those yards going to George Pickens, who had his first career 100-yard night receiving, with 127 yards to go with a 71-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
It was the longest touchdown play by any Steeler since an 84-yard touchdown by Chase Claypool in Week 2 of 2020. It's also the longest touchdown of Pickens' young career, more than doubling his second-longest of 31 yards, which also came against the Browns in Week 18 of last season.
During training camp, Pickens wanted to emphasize his speed and show he's more than just the highlight-reel catches, and he did that on the touchdown.
Highsmith's bull rush and Watt's scoop-and-score saved the Steelers in the end, becoming the second team since 1991 to win a game they trailed in the fourth quarter despite having negative yardage in the frame.
It was also the first time the Steelers had multiple defensive touchdowns in a game since a 23-7 win over the Tennessee Titans in 2010. The 26 points scored on the game without a red zone drive were the team's most in the last 45 years, and the most in the NFL since the Kansas City Chiefs had 27 against the New Orleans Saints in 2016.
The Steelers had just one offensive touchdown in each of their first two games, a very far cry from the five touchdowns scored on the first team's five preseason possessions.
While Canada has been garnering a lot of flak as perhaps the worst offensive coordinator in the NFL, Pickett isn't doing himself any favors either. His 60.5% completion rate is ahead of just Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Watson, and Zach Wilson.
The ground game also has just 96 rushing yards on just 31 attempts this season, averaging 3.1 yards per carry, 6th-worst in the league. The Steelers also punted 13 times this season, tied for the most in the NFL.
This is not sustainable on a weekly basis.
Then again, the offense could not consistently move the ball with Canada as the offensive coordinator, and have not had a single game of 400 total yards of offense since he took over in 2021. Every other team has had at least three such games.
The offense is averaging 9.5 points per game and a league-low 12 first downs, nine of them in this game.
To go on with it, when there's at least one play stopped behind the sticks, the entire drive is derailed. The stagnation falls in part of both the play calling and the execution.
Yes, Canada is mostly to blame, but Pickett was also erratic in his decision-making and mechanics. There were a series of first half throws where he missed his target, though he did settle down midway through the second quarter when he connected with Jaylen Warren in space for a 30-yard gain. While there are still encouraging moments with him, he lacks the consistency the Steelers need from him.
They also wanted to get the rushing game more involved, but what was seen was a far cry from what they were looking at. Najee Harris, however, was largely ineffective outside of back-to-back runs of 21 and 17 yards in the second half. Not including those runs, he averaged 1.6 yards per carry. The play calling didn't help, either.
They want to get back on track offensively next Sunday on primetime, when they travel to Las Vegas to face the Raiders, looking to beat them on the road for the first time since 1995.
For the Browns, the game was a gut punch. Not only is the loss brutal, but a season that looks promising to them doesn't feel that way anymore, as Chubb's injury could rank up there as one of the worst moments in recent Browns history.
Injuries are part of the game. But if the Browns are going to have any hope of overcoming this injury, they're going to need Watson to live up to his $230 million contract. And it can still happen, but there's nothing to suggest it will happen.
He continued to be a shell of what he was when he led the NFL in passing in 2020. He got sacked six times and had a total QBR of 16.5, committed two costly facemask penalties, and struggled mightily when he was relied on the most. And it was his 8th game as a Brown.
Tight end Harrison Bryant should've hauled in the pass on the first play, but like many of Watson's passes ever since his return from his 11-game suspension in the wake of the more than two dozen women accusing him of sexual misconduct, the throw was off-target. And like a lot of Watson's dropbacks, he held onto the ball for too long, leading to a negative play.
They even had a chance at a game-winning drive, yet the fourth down pass, like many others, sailed out of bounds.
Through two games, Watson has been off target more than any other quarterback in the league, with a miss rate of 27.6%. That is worse than rookies Young (21.9%) and Anthony Richardson (21.7%), worse than Pickett (22.2%), and far worse than Wilson (14.0%). His QBR is also 30th (29.3), only ahead of Justin Fields (22.2) and Pickett (18.8).
In the last eight games, dating back to Watson's return in Week 13 of last season, he is next-to-last in EPA (expected points added) per dropback (-21.5), only ahead of Fields.
The defense is doing enough to keep the Browns in this game, and so was Amari Cooper, who had a series of tough catches and several key third down conversions.
However, good enough is not good enough. With Chubb out for the year, the season relies on Watson carrying the offense, and there is no sign he is capable of doing it the same way he did so with the Houston Texans.
They need everyone to click, especially Ford, the new RB1. Chubb is not replaceable, but Ford showed the Browns can still run the ball going forward.
But anything less than the team doing better means the Browns will slowly but steadily lose their grasp on the season. The margin for error is now none, and they will have to right the ship ASAP.
That starts next Sunday when they go home to host the Tennessee Titans.
Scoring
Pittsburgh, 14:51 1st: Alex Highsmith 30-yard interception return TD (Chris Boswell kick); 7-0 Pittsburgh
Cleveland, 8:46 1st: Dustin Hopkins 43-yard field goal; 7-3 Pittsburgh
Cleveland, 14:02 2nd: Jerome Ford 3-yard TD pass from Deshaun Watson (Jerome Ford 2-PT run); 11-7 Cleveland
Pittsburgh, 9:11 2nd: Chris Boswell 52-yard field goal; 11-10 Cleveland
Pittsburgh, 6:05 2nd: George Pickens 71-yard TD pass from Kenny Pickett (Najee Harris 2-PT run failed); 16-11 Pittsburgh
Cleveland, 0:22 2nd: Dustin Hopkins 55-yard field goal; 16-14 Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, 11:47 3rd: Chris Boswell 50-yard field goal; 19-14 Pittsburgh
Cleveland, 10:01 3rd: Pierre Strong Jr. 1-yard TD run (Deshaun Watson 2-PT run); 22-19 Cleveland
Pittsburgh, 6:58 4th: T.J. Watt 16-yard fumble return TD (Chris Boswell kick); 26-22 Pittsburgh
Passing
CLEVELAND BROWNS
Deshaun Watson: 22/40, 235 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 6 sacks, 2 fumbles, 70.3 passer rating
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Kenny Pickett: 15/30, 222 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks, 71.8 passer rating
Rushing
CLEVELAND BROWNS
Jerome Ford: 16 attempts, 106 yards, 0 TD
Nick Chubb: 10 attempts, 64 yards, 0 TD
Deshaun Watson: 6 attempts, 22 yards, 0 TD
Pierre Strong Jr.: 2 attempts, 1 yard, 1 TD
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Najee Harris: 10 attempts, 43 yards, 0 TD
Jaylen Warren: 6 attempts, 20 yards, 0 TD
Receiving
CLEVELAND BROWNS
Amari Cooper: 7 receptions, 90 yards, 0 TD
David Njoku: 4 receptions, 48 yards, 0 TD, 1 fumble
Elijah Moore: 3 receptions, 36 yards, 0 TD
David Bell: 3 receptions, 27 yards, 0 TD
Jerome Ford: 3 receptions, 25 yards, 1 TD
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
George Pickens: 4 receptions, 127 yards, 1 TD
Jaylen Warren: 4 receptions, 66 yards, 0 TD
Defensive
CLEVELAND BROWNS
Grant Delpit: 6 tackles (4 solo), 1 pass defensed, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery
Denzel Ward: 5 tackles (5 solo), 2 passes defensed, 1 forced fumble
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah: 4 tackles (4 solo), 2 TFL
Anthony Walker Jr.: 4 tackles (3 solo), 1 TFL
Juan Thornhill: 4 tackles (3 solo)
Shelby Harris: 4 tackles (1 solo), 1 QB hit, 0.5 sacks, 1 pass defensed
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Kwon Alexander: 9 tackles (8 solo), 1 TFL
Cole Holcomb: 8 tackles (3 solo), 1 TFL, 1 forced fumble
Alex Highsmith: 7 tackles (5 solo), 1 TFL, 2 QB hits, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, 1 TD
Damontae Kazee: 6 tackles (6 solo), 1 fumble recovery
Minkah Fitzpatrick: 6 tackles (5 solo), 2 passes defensed
Larry Ogunjobi: 4 tackles (3 solo), 1 TFL, 2 QB hits, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery
T.J. Watt: 4 tackles (2 solo), 2 TFL, 4 QB hits, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed, 1 fumble recovery, 1 TD
DeMarvin Leal: 3 tackles (2 solo), 1 TFL, 1 QB hit, 1 sack
Montravius Adams: 3 tackles (1 solo), 1 forced fumble
Team Stats
First Downs: Browns 20, Steelers 9
Passing First Downs: Browns 12, Steelers 6
Rushing First Downs: Browns 7, Steelers 3
First Downs from Penalties: Browns 1, Steelers 0
3rd Downs: Browns 5/16, Browns 4/14
4th Downs: Browns 0/2, Steelers 0/0
Total Yards: Browns 408, Steelers 255
Yards Per Play: Browns 5.0, Steelers 4.8
Passing Yards: Browns 210, Steelers 200
Team Passing: Browns 22/40, Steelers 15/30
Yards Per Pass: Browns 4.6, Steelers 6.3
Sacks—Yards Lost: Browns 6—25 yards, Steelers 2—22 yards
Rushing Yards: Browns 198, Steelers 55
Rushing Attempts: Browns 35, Steelers 21
Yards Per Rush: Browns 5.7, Steelers 2.6
Red Zone: Browns 2/3, Steelers 0/0
Penalties: Browns 8—81 yards, Steelers 5—31 yards
Turnovers: Browns 4, Steelers 2
Fumbles Lost: Browns 3, Steelers 1
Interceptions Thrown: Browns 1, Steelers 1
Possession: Browns 35:28, Steelers 24:32
Miscellaneous
Venue: Acrisure Stadium
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Attendance: 83,345 (Capacity: 82,500)
Weather: Clear, 64°F
Winds: WNW 6 mph
Broadcast: ABC/ESPN+
Commentators: Joe Buck (PxP), Troy Aikman (color), Lisa Salters (reporter), John Parry (rules analyst)
Officiating crew: Ron Torbert (referee), Barry Anderson (umpire), Max Causey (down judge), Maia Chaka (line judge), Ryan Dickson (field judge), Keith Washington (side judge), Tony Josselyn (back judge)
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