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The Browns used a steady diet of Amari Cooper, Nick Chubb and David Njoku en route to a 29-17 victory over their rival the Pittsburgh Steelers tonight to improve to 2-1 on the season. The special teams were a bit shaky again, and so was the secondary, but all in all, the Browns looked good in the win.
Amari Cooper looked open all night, he wreaked havoc on the Pittsburgh defense as he caught 7 balls for 101 yards, and a touchdown. David Njoku, who is being counted on hard this season with the extreme lack of wide receiver depth for the Browns, stepped up tonight with 9 catches for 89 yards and a score.
Brissett easily had his best game as a Cleveland Brown using the above weapons around him. The signal caller went 21 of 31 for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed the ball 3 times for 11 yards, all of which were for first downs in third and fourth and short situations.
The tandem of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt once again went to work early and often in the victory. Nick Chubb rushed for 113 yards on 22 touchdowns with the score. Hunt, went for 47 yards on the ground on 12 carries. Together, they went for over 150 yards on the ground along with Hunt catching 3 balls for 14 yards.
Fans will get on their Kenny Pickett bandwagon soon enough in Pittsburgh, but quite frankly, Trubisky played well enough for the Steelers to win once again today. Mitch went 19 of 31 for 209 yards with a rushing touchdown. It is not his fault they are losing, there were several dropped passes and held Najee Harris to just 56 yards on the ground.
Late into the first quarter, the Browns used a 7 play, 61-yard drive to score first. The drive was capped off by a Brissett to Cooper 11-yard touchdown pass. The Browns took advantage of a shorter field following the Chris Boswell Field goal miss. They took advantage of a good break, and that is what winning teams do.
Najee Harris got the Steelers on the board on the first play of the second quarter. Pittsburgh ran a quick tempo no huddle drive, to move 7 plays in 3 minutes, covering 75 yards. This followed the Browns score that resulted in a touchback.
The Browns, as they did for the bulk of the night, answered the Steeler score with one of their own. Brissett used an empty backfield set to his advantage for quick pass plays, most of which going to Njoku who had the touchdown catch on this drive. This time, he found his tight end from 7 yards out to put the Browns back ahead. Cade York, promptly missed the extra point as the Browns fans held their breath.
The Steelers, once again, wasted no time responding as they cruised down the field by moving 75 yards in 10 plays to go up 14-13 on the Mitch Trubisky 1 yard scramble. This gave the hometown boy, a reason to celebrate in front of his family and friends in the crowd.
It looked for a moment that the Browns would take the lead before half on a field goal in the two-minute drill. However, Kevin Stefanski elected to go for it and fourth and two however. The pass to Cooper was just a bit off. At first, it looked as though he caught it as it was called a first down, but then the review gave it back to Pittsburgh on the incomplete pass.
The Steelers were unable to take advantage with a two-minute drill of their own, and had to settle for the 14-13 lead at half. The third quarter saw very little scoring, but again, the Browns used smart play calling to convert third and fourth and shorts, before eventually settling for a 34 yard Field Goal from York to give them the lead at 16-14 in the closing moments of the third quarter.
Up two points to start the fourth quarter, the Browns went back to work with a dink and dunk system that allowed them to move the ball 80 yards in 11 plays, while soaking up 6:35 off the game clock. They cashed in with a Nick Chubb 1 yard touchdown on a dramatic fourth and four call. York made it interesting, but did convert the extra point to extend the Browns lead to 23-14 with 9:33 to play.
After a 35-yard Chris Boswell Field Goal made it 23-17 with 1:51 to play, it was another onside kick situation for the Browns to try and recover to ice the game. The Browns managed to recover it this week, and ice the victory.
The Browns will now enjoy a Sunday off, and head to Atlanta Week Four.
