The Pittsburgh Steelers took a 27-3 lead into the halftime break, but that was not enough, as the Cleveland Browns came storming back to make it a 27-27 game early in the fourth quarter. A 41 yard field goal by Shaun Suisham as time expired saved the Steelers from the embarrassment of a loss with the 30-27 victory.
Both teams registered field goals on their first drive before the Steelers started putting distance between the two teams. LeGarrette Blount's 7 yard touchdown run gave the Steelers the 10-3 lead.
Cleveland had a chance to close the gap when Karlos Dansby intercepted Ben Roethlisberger's pass, but a loss of 10 yards on a sack by Jarvis Jones forced a Browns punt.
The Steelers got touchdowns on their next two drives to extend the lead to 24-3. The first came from Roethlisberger's 35 yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown in which Big Ben escaped the pressure and delivered a strike to Brown on the sideline. The second was courtesy of a slaloming run across the field by Le'Veon Bell. Shaun Suisham added a 34 yard field goal as time expired on the first half to make it a 27-3 halftime lead.
The thing about football is that the game is played for 60 minutes. Not 30 minutes, but 60 and that is a lesson repeated every season with miraculous comebacks. Sunday's game was no different.
Cleveland got to work right away with a quick march down the field. The opening drive of the second half was capped off by Isaiah Crowell's three yard touchdown run to make it 27-10. Pittsburgh would go three-and-out to give the ball back to Cleveland.
Brian Hoyer used his arm to move the Browns down the field, throwing for 30 yards on the drive. Crowell ended the drive with a run off the right tackle that let him go in from 15 yards out virtually untouched. The Browns were now only down 27-17 with 9 minutes left in the third quarter.
After Roethlisberger's fumbled cost the Steelers any hope of another score, Cleveland got the ball back on their own 18 yard line. Once again, the Browns drove right down the field, but the Steelers defense stiffened and only gave up a 25 yard field goal to the Browns' Billy Cundiff.
A quick three-and-out gave the Browns the ball right back with great field position at the Cleveland 49 yard line. Terrance West and Crowell combined to help move the close to the red zone before Hoyer finished the drive with his arm. On first and goal, Hoyer drilled a pass into the arms of Travis Benjamin at the back of the end zone. Cleveland had tied the game in 18:45 of game time after being down 27-3 at the break.
Neither team could do much with the ball after that, but the Steelers defense forced the Browns back to their 9 and got the ball back on the Pittsburgh 43 yard line. Roethlisberger completed back-to-back passes to Markus Wheaton for 31 yards to set up Shaun Suisham's game winning 41 yard field goal.
It was an odd game to see a high scoring affair between two AFC North rivals, but that is what we got. The Browns had 389 yards of offense compared to Pittsburgh's 490.
Brian Hoyer went 19 of 31 for 230 yards and a touchdown. He was also sacked 3 times for a total loss of 24 yards.
The Cleveland Browns' running game gashed the Steelers, especially up the middle. Rookie Terrance West ran for 100 yards on 16 carries. Ben Tate had 41 yards on 6 carries before he got injured midway through the second quarter. He left with a knee injury and did not return. Another rookie, Isaiah Crowell, finished with 32 yards and 2 touchdowns on 5 carries.
Andrew Hawkins led the Browns with 8 catches for 87 yards. Jordan Cameron had 2 catches for 47 yards, but hurt his shoulder in the game. It is not known how serious the injury is.
Ben Roethlisberger had a great game throwing the ball. He went 23 of 34 for 365 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Le'Veon Bell got the lion's share of carries with 21 and gaining 109 yards with a touchdown. Roethlisberger, Blount, and Dri Archer had the remaining 7 carries for 18 yards.
Antonio Brown led the Steelers with 5 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. Markus Wheaton finished with 6 catches for 88 yards. Le'Veon Bell had 6 catches for 88 yards out of the backfield to bring his total offensive output at 197 yards for the game.
Brown also returned 3 punts for 46 yards including a controversial 36 yarder. On the punt, he came across Browns punter Spencer Lanning on the return and kicked Lanning with his right foot. The infraction was spotted by the officials and was called for unnecessary roughness. The play will surely draw a fine from the NFL because it could have been completely avoided.
The Browns (0-1) will have their home opener next week against the New Orleans Saints (0-1). Game time is 1:00 PM Eastern Time. The Saints lost in overtime on Sunday to the Atlanta Falcons, 37-34.
The Steelers (1-0) have a quick turnaround with a road game at the Baltimore Ravens (0-1) on Thursday night. The game will be at 8:25 PM Eastern Time and can be seen nationally on CBS and the NFL Network. The Ravens lost 23-16 against the Cincinnati Bengals earlier on Sunday.