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| ATL at CAR | BUF at MIA | CHI at OAK | CIN at BAL | CLE at PIT | DAL at NYG | DEN at KC | DET at ARI |
| IND at SD | JAX at TEN | MIN at GB | PHI at WAS | SF at SEA | STL at NO | ||
Week 10 Game Recap: Cleveland Browns 28, Pittsburgh Steelers 31
What you need to know
| Cleveland Browns |
The Browns jumped out to a 21-6 lead, but could not generate enough offense in the second half in order to knock off their division rival. Derek Anderson threw for three quick touchdowns, but only finished up 16 of 35 with 123 yards on the afternoon.
Kellen Winslow led the team in yards and accounted for the Browns' opening touchdown, catching five balls for 46 yards. The Steelers did their best to stop Braylon Edwards, and did so with the exception of an exceptional 16 yard touchdown reception by Edwards in the first half. Joe Jurevicius made most of his plays on third down, catching five balls for 44 yards. Jamal Lewis was again more active out of the backfield, catching three balls for eight yards, while backup Jason Wright added a seven yard catch. The Browns' second touchdown came on a two yard reception by Lawrence Vickers.
Despite jumping out to the lead early, the Browns did not change their game plan and try to run against the Steelers defense for good reason. Jamal Lewis was only able to gain 35 yards on sixteen carries with a lost fumble. Derek Anderson was credited with five yards on two official attempts.
| Pittsburgh Steelers |
After being shutdown in Browns territory in the first half, the Steelers were able to convert on third downs in the second half when they most needed to. Ben Roethlisberger delivered, finishing 23 of 34 for 278 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Roethlisberger's top target was Hines Ward, who caught seven passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. Heath Miller came on late with the game winning touchdown and ended up with five receptions for 71 yards. Santonio Holmes and Nate Washington each caught four balls a piece for 53 and 56 yards respectively. Out of the backfield, Willie Parker added eight yards on two receptions while Najeh Davenport caught a ten yard pass.
The Steelers had more success on the ground, with Willie Parker gaining 105 yards on 25 carries. Najeh Davenport spelled Parker near the goal line and on third downs, but gained only seven yards on four attempts. Ben Roethlisberger made a couple of athletic plays in the fourth quarter, and gained 49 yards on five carries including a thirty yard touchdown run. Santonio Holmes lost two yards on one official attempt.
What you ought to know
| QB Derek Anderson, Pass: 16 - 35 - 123 - 3 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - 5 - 0 |
Anderson completed just 46% of his passes for an average gain of 3.5 yards per attempt and finished with a passer rating of just a 54.8 despite three touchdowns and no interceptions. Anderson was very successful in converting third downs in the first half (the team punted just once), however struggled to get the offense going in the second half. The Steelers were applying heavy coverage to Braylon Edwards and tried to force Anderson to throw short passes over the middle throughout most of the game.
| RB Jamal Lewis, Rush: 16 - 35 - 0, Rec: 3 - 8 - 0 (4 targets) |
For the second straight week, Lewis averaged just over two yards per carry and couldn't get anything going for the Browns. Lewis showed good power early on rolling over Steelers defenders on the opening drive, but got stopped at or behind the goal line through most of the rest of the game.
| WR Joe Jurevicius, Rec: 5 - 44 - 0 (8 targets) |
Jurevicius made a number of key catches on third down early in the game, and helped to provide Derek Anderson with an alternate option to Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow.
| WR Braylon Edwards, Rec: 1 - 16 - 1 (7 targets) |
Edwards was heavily covered throughout most of the game, but made a fantastic tip toe touchdown catch on his only grab when his quarterback threw the ball where only he could catch it. Edwards turned at the last second and dragged both his feet in bounds for a touchdown following a successful challenge by coach Romeo Crenel.
| TE Kellen Winslow Jr, Rec: 5 - 46 - 1 (13 targets) |
After being very involved in the first series of the game with three catches and a touchdown, Winslow was held quiet until the final series of the game as the Browns tried to mount a comeback. Winslow made a very good blocking fake on a play action pass that resulted in him sliding into the open field for a touchdown without a defender.
| PK Phil Dawson 0 - 1 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 4 points |
Dawson connected successfully on four extra attempts, and was brought on to try to tie up the game from 52 yards out into a slight wind, but despite hitting it dead down the center, came up just short. A successful attempt would have set a Heinz field record.
| CLE Rush Defense |
The Browns gave up over 100 yards to Willie Parker, though felt heartbreak when Roethlisberger scrambled for a thirty yard touchdown and came up with a key third down conversion on the next drive during the fourth quarter.
| CLE Pass Defense |
The Browns came up with an interception to set up a touchdown and came up with four sacks, but couldn't slow down Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers in the second half.
| QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 23 - 34 - 278 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 5 - 49 - 1 |
Roethlisberger completed 68% of his passes for an average gain of 8.2 yards per attempt en route to a passer rating of 80.3. Roethlisberger looked to Hines Ward when he needed to find an open receiver, but came up with his biggest plays of the game with his feet, including a thirty yard touchdown run to set up a 24-21 lead, and converting on a key third down conversion to set up the go ahead touchdown to take a 31-28 lead for good.
| RB Willie Parker, Pass: 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 25 - 105 - 0, Rec: 2 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Parker was contained through parts of this game, but with twenty five carries, averaged over four yards per carry and passed the century mark. Parker's biggest play came when he was stopped at the line of scrimmage, spun out to gain 31 yards and forcing the Browns to adjust how they defended against both the run and pass, opening up the field for Ben Roethlisberger. Parker attempted a halfback pass in this game, but pulled up for the pass too quickly, and was unable to connect with a covered Heath Miller.
| WR Hines Ward, Rec: 7 - 80 - 1 (11 targets) |
Whenever Roethlisberger was in trouble, he almost always seemed to be looking for Ward, who led the team in targets and catches for over eleven yards per reception.
| WR Santonio Holmes, Rush: 1 - -2 - 0, Rec: 4 - 53 - 0 (9 targets) |
Holmes was targeted in the red zone on multiple occasions, though the Browns defensive backs came up with big plays to knock the ball away and keep Holmes from having a big day.
| TE Heath Miller, Rec: 5 - 71 - 1 (7 targets) |
Miller was quiet for most of the game, but came on in the fourth quarter with a couple of big catches, including the go ahead touchdown reception on a sharply thrown short pass where Miller made a nice hands catch and hung on despite a hard hit.
| PK Jeff Reed 3 - 3 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 11 points |
Reed connected from 28, 30 and 35 yards out to remain perfect on field goal attempts this season inside of 65 yards, and made two extra point attempts. The Steelers successfully converted a two point attempt following their second touchdown in a 22-21 game.
| PIT Rush Defense |
The Steelers shut down Jamal Lewis, and based upon the strong presence in the past, prevented the Browns from attempting to further establish a rushing game despite holding as much as a fifteen point lead.
| PIT Pass Defense |
The pass defense failed to come up with any sacks or interceptions, but kept the ball out of the hands of Braylon Edwards and limited Derek Anderson to just 123 yards passing.
