CLEVELAND — The Pittsburgh Steelers showed up in Cleveland with much at stake. Perhaps it was the hangover from a big win in Detroit and three straight victories with their backs against the wall. Or maybe they thought the Packers would knock off the Baltimore Ravens and get them into the playoffs without stepping onto the field.
However, the Steelers defense came out flat, perhaps flatter than the offense. They allowed the Browns offense, shorthanded on the offensive line and without standout tight end David Njoku, to drive down the field and get a field goal. On the very next drive, Harold Fannin made a circus catch for a 28-yard touchdown before exiting the game with a groin injury.
The Steelers defense ended up settling down, however. They forced two turnovers, including one deep into Browns territory, and the offense squandered it. Throughout the game, the offense had chances to make plays, but they consistently fell short.
Chris Boswell missed a 54-yard field goal into the wind, a monumental ask, even for the 2024 All-Pro kicker. It fell just short, and the Steelers’ offensive gameplan can be summed up in a few words.
For one, they were 3 of 15 on third down. That sums up one critical struggle for the Steelers, as they had been excellent on third downs over the last few weeks, but this time around, Pittsburgh routinely fell short in that area.
On top of that, quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for just 168 yards on 21 completions and 39 pass attempts. Meanwhile, the Steelers’ rushing attack had a well over 43 percent rushing success rate, above the threshold for an average game.
The most egregious example came in the second quarter when the Steelers had a fourth-and-1 deep in Browns territory. They called a timeout and came in empty formation, proceeding to throw a go ball to Scotty Miller in a one-on-one spot.
That fell incomplete. It was a ridiculous play call in and of itself if the Steelers wanted to go for it, which felt like the right call at the time, too.
Then, when the Steelers had the Browns in a punt situation late in the fourth quarter, they opted not to use a timeout before the two-minute warning, which would have saved over 40 seconds.
Pittsburgh’s process for the entire game left anyone watching this clash scratching their heads, and it remains one of the common low marks of the Mike Tomlin era.