Thursday night turned into a miserable one for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the pain came from more than just the final score. Less than 24 hours after Omar Khan sent Joey Porter Jr. to the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh watched its defense get picked apart in a 27-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Deshaun Watson wasted no time making the Steelers pay for the shaky secondary play in front of him. Cleveland opened with a punt, but once the Browns settled in, the game tilted fast.
Denzel Boston became a major problem, catching three passes for 74 yards on five targets before halftime and repeatedly winning his matchups. By the break, Watson had thrown for 181 yards and had only three incompletions.
The Browns stacked together three straight scoring drives in the second quarter, building a 21-10 lead before halftime and leaving Aaron Rodgers with a steep climb. Pittsburgh’s defense, usually the part of the team that keeps things afloat while the offense searches for answers, never really found its footing.
The Steelers did get an early spark when an opening drive ended with a 12-yard Roman Wilson touchdown reception. After that, though, the offense went quiet until the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
Rodgers spent too much time holding the ball against Cleveland’s man coverage, and that led to five sacks. Pittsburgh’s drives kept stalling before they could turn Watson’s surge into a response.
Rodgers did manage to pull off some late magic, tying the game with a quarterback sneak with less than two minutes left. But Watson had already done enough damage. He finished 24 of 32 for 268 yards, averaging 8.4 yards per reception and stretching Pittsburgh’s secondary all night.
The trouble only deepened when Jamel Dean left with an ankle injury. Even with late defensive stops still on the board, the Steelers couldn’t flip the game.
T.J. Watt forced a fumble, and Nick Herbig’s tipped ball led to an interception, but neither play was enough to save Pittsburgh from defeat.
For the Steelers, the night was a blunt reminder that there’s still plenty to fix. Losing Porter Jr. right before kickoff only made the secondary’s struggles look worse, and Graham’s group had no answer for Watson or Cleveland’s receiving core. With Dean’s injury added to the mix, the back end suddenly looks especially vulnerable.
In Other News...
Steelers Defense Just Took A Brutal Hit Against The Browns
A Thursday night collision with the Browns brought an early injury scare for Pittsburgh, as defensive tackle Derrick Harmon was carted off with a foot injury and quickly listed as questionable. The timing could not have been worse for a defense already trying to slow Clevelands momentum, with the Browns taking a 21-10 lead into halftime.
Harmons exit leaves the Steelers with a bigger problem than just one missing body in the middle. His presence matters in both the run game and the pass rush, and Pittsburgh now has to adjust on the fly while trying to keep Cleveland from controlling the line of scrimmage. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Rodgers Just Complicated One Steelers Blame Game
Aaron Rodgers added a layer to the Steelers postgame frustration after the late possession in the loss to Cleveland, pushing back on the idea that the play was simply about Jaylen Warren being the intended answer on second down. Rodgers said five players were running routes on the snap, a reminder that what looks obvious from the outside can be a lot messier once protection, timing and route distribution come into play.
For a Pittsburgh offense still trying to sort through what went wrong in a tight, late-game sequence, that matters. The ball ending up with Warren does not automatically tell the full story of the design, and Rodgers explanation points to the kind of breakdown that can involve more than one player and more than one decision. In a game that already invited blame, the more interesting question may be how much of that play was about execution, and how much was about the pressure closing in around it. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Fans Already Have A Rodgers-McCarthy Sideline Problem
The Steelers got a little reminder in Week 4 that bringing familiar faces together does not always mean smooth sailing. During Thursday nights game against the Browns, Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy were caught in a heated sideline exchange after Rodgers grew frustrated over a delayed play call, and McCarthy fired back with a profane retort.
For Pittsburgh, it was the kind of moment that can linger because of how much history is wrapped into it. Rodgers and McCarthy won a Super Bowl together in Green Bay before reuniting in Pittsburgh, so the chemistry was never going to be a mystery, but neither was the possibility of old competitive habits resurfacing when the pressure ratchets up. Fans who were hoping for a clean reunion got a glimpse of something a lot messier, and it will be worth watching how that dynamic plays out moving forward. [Read more 🡒]