After the Steelers finished their first quarter of the season with a 3-1 record, to the shock of nearly everyone considering the revolving door that had been installed under center, they welcomed both suspended quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the Cleveland Browns into Heinz Field.
The Steelers wore their throwback uniforms, which is kind of like Superman putting on his cape. They seem to never lose when wearing those unis. Maybe they should have petitioned the NFL to allow them to wear those in Dallas in February.
Sort of a Game
As has been the case for most of the games between the Browns Version 2.0 and the Men of Steel, this was not much of a game.
That’s not to say there weren’t a few moments of trepidation in the opening minutes.
On their first possession, the Browns managed a couple of first downs and were moving into field goal range before Lamarr Woodley sacked Colt McCoy for a nine-yard loss. On second and 19 from the Steelers’ 45, McCoy found Ryan Clark with a pass on the Steelers’ 18-yard-line.
Of course, Ryan Clark plays for the Steelers. He returned the ball to the Pittsburgh 29 on the interception where the Steelers’ offense took the field.
The Steelers began a methodical drive up the field, covering 57 in eight plays. They faced only one third down on the drive to the Browns’ 14-yard-line. Then, Big Ben made the one mistake he would make all day.
On third and 4 from the Browns’ 14, Ben tried to find Mewelde Moore out of the backfield, but instead found Joe Haden of the Browns. 62 yards later the Browns were in business on the Steelers’ 35-yard-line. The funny part of this play is that 89-year-old Flozell Adams made the tackle, stopping Haden. I bet you never would have guessed that.
The Browns would only gain five more yards against the great Steelers’ defense and settled for a field goal.
The Browns would have the lead in the game for all of 6 minutes and 8 seconds of game time because the ritualistic domination of the Cleveland Browns was about to begin.
Enjoy That Lead While it Lasts, Cleveland
Roethlisberger would redeem himself nicely for the rest of the game. He finished with 257 yards and three touchdowns on 16 of 27 passes. Each of those touchdowns would go to a different receiver: Wallace, Ward, and Miller.
Rashard Mendenhall would have a nice day with 84 yards on 25 attempts and a touchdown.
The defense would force the Browns’ defense into three turnovers. McCoy would have a decent outing throwing for 281 yards on 23 of 33 passes, but had two picks against a single touchdown.
After the Steelers took the lead, it was never really a game.
The Play
The play that changed this game was a gutty run after a catch by future hall-of-famer Hines Ward.
With 3:18 left in the third quarter, and the game still in doubt, the Steelers lined up on the Browns’ 8-yard-line. Hines caught a short pass over the middle and did what he always does: He fought through tackles and forced his way into the end zone. The score would put the Steelers up 14-3, which proved to be the game winning score.
The Steelers would tack on two more touchdowns the rest of the way, while the Browns picked up a single garbage-time TD with the game decided.
Have a look, fair Citizens, at the personification of grit and determination courtesy Hines E. Ward, Jr.
Video courtesy: youtube. Hightlight starts at 48 seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_44yuYX9gw