Cleveland Browns secure gifted 20-14 win over injury-plagued Pittsburgh Steelers – NFL Recap
Well within projection of all analysts, the Cleveland Browns capitalised on a rare opportunity of walking over the injury-riddled Pittsburgh Steelers, who despite putting up some resistance did not have answer to their woes on the offensive line and succumb
14-20 to rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden-led Browns on Sunday the 25th Nov.
With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, safety Troy Polamalu and some other notable players out, the Steelers at the end had to turn to 37-year-old Charlie Batch to take care of their offence.
This was probably too much asking from him, in front of a rookie quarterback who had energy, speed, velocity and accuracy to an extent. There were already questions about the ability and fitness of Batch to adapt to offensive coordinator Todd Haley’s fast-paced
offence, which even Big Ben found hard to cope with.
Also, with so many injuries the team’s overall morale at the lowest ebb and with such mindset, the Steelers were more prone to mistakes as ever before, and Coach Mike Tomlin admits it.
He said:
"When you turn the ball over the way we did, you're not going to beat anybody. We were highly penalized. When you do those things, you're going to lose I don't care who is playing quarterback."
The team also missed Byron Leftwich who had managed rather well in the previous game as a replacement for Ben on the starting line and with him out too on the sidelines it was expected that the Browns had one of the best chances to beat the Steelers.
Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson rightly sensed the opportunity. According to him:
"A lot of them didn't want to shake our hands and I'm OK with that."
Weeden was reasonably okay in the performance but just before closing minutes suffered a head injury, which the team later confirmed to be concussion, and probably will oust the player for a longer run. Backup quarterback Colt McCoy replaced the rookie and
took the team to closing timing without throwing for a pass.
If the rookie QB is ousted for a longer period with the concussion, McCoy might get a chance for another five games left in the regular season, and it will be a rare opportunity for him to prove himself on the starting line.
The Steelers meanwhile having lost two consecutive games, one to the Baltimore Ravens and now one to the Browns, have landed themselves in rough waters to negotiate through to playoffs. A win by the Cincinnati Bengals means Steelers are down at third position
in the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. This has also given the Ravens a clear lead atop the division and they are now definite contenders for the second round of the season.
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