The Pittsburgh Steelers defense imposed its conditions and the running attack helped Ben Roethlisberger to say goodbye to Heinz Field with a win over Cleveland Browns, by a score of 26-14, on the last Monday Night of the 2021 NFL season.
The Steelers sacked Baker Mayfield nine times, TJ Watt recorded four of them and Alex Highsmith another two, and Najee Harris ran 28 times for 188 yards and a touchdown.
With the win, Roethlisberger made sure he didn’t have a losing season with him as the starting quarterback – the last time they were losing track was in 2003, a year before they drafted him.
Mathematically, Pittbsurgh can still make the postseason, but it depends on the results of the Indianapolis Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders.
After both teams’ turnovers on downs during the first quarter, the Steelers opened the scoring in the second quarter when Roethlisberger connected with Diontae Johnson on a five-yard pass.
Steelers cornerback Akhello Witherspoon helped his team by intercepting a pitch from Baker Mayfield. Pittsburgh earned three turnover points off Chris Boswell’s 22-yard field goal.
To finish the first half, the Steelers attempted an offense in the final 34 seconds. However, ‘Big Ben’ threw an interception at the hands of AJ Green. The cornerback was dropped by Pat Freiermuth as time expired.
Second half
Cleveland received the ball to open the second half, but they said goodbye with a three and out in which TJ Watt had his second sack of the match. Boswell added three points to the scoreboard with a 30-yard kick.
Los Browns, eliminated from any chance of making the playoffs when the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, put their first points on the scoreboard late in the third period through a Baker Mayfield connection to David Njoku.
The Steelers increased their lead with two more Boswell field goals in the last quarter with hits of 50 and 48 yards. However, Mayfield narrowed the gap to 19-14 by connecting with Hunter Bryant in the end zone.
After scoring, Cleveland tried a short kick, but the Steelers got the ball back. Najee Harris set the final score with a 37-yard touchdown carry with less than a minute left to play.
The defense gave him the opportunity to kneel Ben Roethlisberger to end the game when Tre Norwood intercepted Baker Mayfield with ten seconds on the clock.
Whats Next?
The Steelers will play their final regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium and the Browns will host the Bengals at FirstEnergy Stadium.
