The Cleveland Browns had a hard season open coming into Pittsburgh to try and win there for the first time in over a decade. At the end of the half the score was 27-3 in favor of Pittsburgh and no one would have imagined that the game would come down to a field goal in the final seconds for Pittsburgh to win. The Steelers dominated on offense the first half putting up 278 yards passing and 90 yards rushing. This was against a Browns' offense that only managed 56 yards passing and 62 yards rushing in the first half. All hope for Cleveland seemed lost and it appeared as though all of the worries about the Browns' offensive were worse than fans had imagined. The second half of the game was a completely different story as the offense found some sort of spark and Brian Hoyer looked every bit a starter that he is suppose to be.
Terrence West puts up 100 yards in his rookie NFL debutAt the start of the third quarter, Hoyer's drive was able to consistently move the chains down the field completing 3/3 of his passes for 38 yards capped with a 3 yard Isaiah Cowell touchdown. The second possession of the second half was like deja vu, Hoyer again drove the ball down the field going 2/3 for 30 yards with another touchdown run by Corwell to bring the Browns up to 17-27. The next two possessions by the Browns were scoring possession with one field goal and a touchdown pass all while the Sleelers were stuck punting. The clutch Ben Roethlisberger was able to successfully handle the two minute drill ending in a field goal with seconds left to prevent overtime, ending the game 27-30. Hoyer finished the game 19/31 for 230 yards and a touchdown.
Many have viewed Brian Hoyer's preseason games as a preview of what was to come in the regular season and others have questioned whether he deserved to start on any team. Today he proved through his resilience that he is not only able to be starter in this league but he deserves to be the starter in Cleveland. No matter who you are, coming back from a 24 point deficit takes poise and confidence. It is however inevitable that Johnny Manziel will be the starter at some point this year and that will all be dependent on the win/loss columns and will likely not be a true reflection of how well Hoyer plays.
Notables
Cleveland Rushing
Rookie Isaiah Crowell comes out of the shadows and shows he is a red zone threat, rushing for 2 touchdowns (most among all rookie RBs so far).
Rookie Terrance West rushes for 100 yards (most among all rookie RBs so far). Either RB may be fantasy football sleepers
Cleveland had 6 different players to rush for a total of 183 yards rushing. This running back core is deep.
Cleveland Secondary
Rookie first round draft pick Justin Gilbert was picked on all day by Big Ben.
Cleveland Special Teams
On returning a punt, Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown attempted a hurdle over Browns' punter Spencer Lanning, but ended up giving him a kung foo style kick to the face. Resulting in a 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty
Cleveland Injuries
RB Ben Tate suffered a knee injury in the game while TE Jordan Cameron had a shoulder injury. The details of these injuries are not know as of yet.
Pittsburgh Rushing
La'Veon Bell was a hero for fantasy football owners this week who drafted him. He put up ridiculous numbers today. 109 yards rushing, 1 TD. 88 yards receiving.
Pittsburgh Special Teams
Pulling some tricks out of the hat, the Steelers pulled of a trick play on 4th down late in the fourth quarter. Robert Golden pulled of the fake punt pass to Antwon Blake for 25 yards to keep the chains going in a crucial 4th quarter tied game.