Todd Monken had a stack of game balls after the Browns beat Pittsburgh 27-24, but Mike Hall Jr. got the one that mattered most.
It wasn’t for piling up stats. It was for what he did when the game needed him most.
Hall, a rotational defensive tackle who also lines up on the edge at times, was supposed to be done for the night after getting hurt in the first half. Cleveland had already lost Mason Graham to a knee injury, and Hall was listed as questionable to return after an ankle issue. He couldn’t put weight on it after Jared Verse was blocked into his leg, and he was carted to the locker room from the sideline.
Then came the moment that stopped everybody cold.
With Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers moving in Cleveland territory and trailing 21-10 late in the third quarter, Rodgers got dropped before he could throw. Hall was the one celebrating the sack, and he did it on one leg.
That was the kind of play that tells you exactly what Monken wants this team to look like. Short on bodies up front, Hall came back anyway and made one of the defining plays of the Browns’ season so far.
“Mike - how awesome was that?” Monken said after the game.
“To come back. Gets hurt.
Probably going to be out. You’re going to be down to two defensive tackles.
And Mike comes back. That’s just how our guys are wired.
They want to play for each other. We’ve got a tremendous connection.
Winning helps that connection. It just does."
For Monken, Hall’s return felt bigger than a single sack. Every NFL season has a moment that helps define the group, and it’s not always a touchdown or a kick. Sometimes it’s a hit, a stop, or a play that changes the mood in the building.
Hall’s sack on Rodgers has a real chance to be that for Cleveland.
He didn’t put up huge numbers. Pro Football Focus had him down for 30 defensive snaps, and Adin Huntington - who also had a sack Thursday - was the Browns’ only other active defensive tackle after Graham went out. But the timing mattered more than the volume.
Hall’s path to that moment has been anything but smooth. He was suspended for five games by the NFL in 2024 after a domestic violence arrest. Then, in the final game of his rookie season, he suffered a torn MCL and dislocated knee that wiped out a large part of 2025.
That left him in training camp this summer with plenty to prove. Cleveland used a second-round pick on the former Ohio State standout, and he showed the new staff he was willing to line up anywhere along the defensive front if it helped the team.
Thursday night may have given him his signature play. Rodgers later led two touchdown drives to tie the game, and if the Steelers - already in Chris Boswell’s field goal range - had gotten a chance to kick instead of being forced to punt after Hall’s sack, the finish could have looked very different.
Instead, Hall’s moment landed right where Monken likes it: spot the ball, play football.
Maybe the box score won’t give it much space. But big No. 51 hopping around on one leg while the home crowd roared? That’s the kind of image a team carries with it.
In Other News...
Browns Win Created A New Offensive Debate Cleveland Can't Ignore
The Browns walked out of Pittsburgh with another win, and it did more than extend their streak to three games and keep them atop the AFC North. It also sharpened the picture of how this offense is trying to win right now, with Jerry Jeudy helping to move the chains on the decisive drive and McLaughlin breaking loose for a 28-yard touchdown on just his second carry in a Browns uniform.
Cade York then finished it off from 56 yards, a career-long kick that extended his streak to 22 straight makes and gave Cleveland a victory built on more than just defense and field position. The result was exactly what the Browns wanted, but it also left a familiar question hanging over an offense that keeps finding different answers in big moments. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Suddenly Need Mike Hall Jr In A Spot They Feared
Mason Grahams early exit against the Steelers put an already thin Browns defensive line under immediate stress, and it changed the look of the rotation in a hurry. Cleveland has been managing injury issues up front for a while, including Kalia Davis landing on injured reserve, so every snap at defensive tackle matters more than it normally would for a defense built to win with depth and waves.
Maliek Collins helped steady things with a sack after Graham went down, but the bigger concern is how much Cleveland can ask of Mike Hall Jr. from here. The Browns had been hoping to avoid leaning too hard on that part of the roster, and now they may not have much choice if Grahams knee issue lingers. [Read more 🡒]
Todd Monken Had A Sideline Moment Browns Fans Will Notice
For a few minutes on Thursday night, the Browns had a little more than just a comfortable lead over Pittsburgh to enjoy. With Cleveland up 21-7 in the second quarter, head coach Todd Monken was caught on broadcast cameras chatting on the sideline and even drawing a laugh from an official, a rare lighthearted moment in the middle of a division game with plenty on the line.
It stood out because those kinds of exchanges are not usually the part of the night anyone remembers once the game tightens up. In a matchup that would later get more stressful as the Steelers started pushing back, the brief sideline scene offered Browns fans a glimpse of Monken in a looser moment while his team was still in control. [Read more 🡒]