CLEVELAND – Ben Roethlisberger had the upper hand again against Cleveland as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Browns 15-10 on Sunday.
The Steelers had to make do without puncher Chris Boswell in the second half, but they still won a third straight game.
Roethlisberger hit a touchdown pass and rookie Najee Harris signed an eight-yard touchdown run for the Steelers (4-3).
Boswell suffered a concussion after a rigged game went awry. Jordan Elliott hit him hard after an incomplete pass.
“I shouldn’t have called that fake placement,” said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.
“I appreciate that the guys fought for 60 minutes, so that it didn’t become a turning point. “
The Browns (4-4) had their chances but wide-winger Jarvis Landry made a costly fumble, in particular. Also, in the last 6:04, Landry twice failed to catch a pass from Baker Mayfield.
Roethlisberger is 24-3-1 against the Browns, including a 12-2-1 record at Cleveland.
The 38-year-old quarterback completed 22 of 34 passes for 266 yards, including 193 in the second half.
Punter Pressley Harvin III is Boswell’s reserve, but he wasn’t asked to attempt a puncture – he was struggling enough with his primary task already.
Boswell is the most accurate at his NFL job since 2019, with a 94% success rate (60 in 64).
In a fourth try, Roethlisberger made a two-yard touchdown pass to close winger Pat Freiermuth.
The catch was laborious, but Freiermuth was able to put his two feet inside the line.
Pittsburgh thus brought the score in the final count, with 11:04 to go in the last quarter.
Five minutes later, Landry saw Joe Schobert drop the ball to him.
Cleveland got the ball back with 4:22 on the clock, but Rashard Higgins was offside and Landry failed to master a high pass on a fourth down, with 1:53 remaining. He had dropped a pass earlier in the climb.
“We’re losing as a team,” said Mayfield, who had 225 yards on the air. Everyone is going to point fingers at a few games but we never had a good pace, either because of penalties or a lack of opportunism. “
A 50-yard gain from wide receiver Dionte Johnson of the Steelers then ended the Browns’ hopes. Roethlisberger only had to run out the remaining time.
Mayfield returned to the game after a game of absence due to a shoulder injury.
D’Ernest Johnson had a 10-yard touchdown run for the Browns.
Myles Garrett got one of the Browns’ two sacks. Recently, he decorated the front of his house with gravestones in the name of quarters that he tackled behind the line of scrimmage, in career. ‘Big Ben’ is included.
“He can keep the gravestone,” Roethlisberger said. I will be very happy with the victory. “
