Browns beat rival Steelers

CLEVELAND — Nothing like a good, old-fashioned, smash-mouth victory over their archrival Steelers for the Browns to feel like all is right with the world again. Four days after one of the worst meltdowns in NFL history against the New York Jets — and the worst one for the the franchise in 21 years — the Browns returned to FirstEnergy Stadium and beat the Steelers, 29-17, Thursday night holding them to three points in the second half and surviving another frenzied finish. Steelers kicker Chris Boswell kicked a 35-yard field goal with 1:48 left in the game to narrow the gap to 23-17. The crowd stood on its feet, remembering the series of unfortunate events from four days earlier when everything that could go wrong for the Browns did in their 31-30 loss to the Jets, one in which they blew a 30-17 lead in the final 1:22. This time, they knocked the onside kick out of bounds, and started at the Steelers 46. Nick Chubb took it from there, and after his third-down run was ruled short and the Browns were forced to punt and give Pittsburgh the ball back one more time, Denzel Ward recovered a fumbled lateral in the end zone and the game was over. There were no huge blown coverages, no embarrassing communication errors and an aggressive defense that smothered Cleveland native Mitch Trubisky and the Steelers offense down the stretch. Jacoby Brissett was sensational, throwing for 220 yards, 2 TDs and a 109.6 rating. Chubb rushed for 113 yards, Amari Cooper had his second straight 100-yard game, and David Njoku caught nine passes for 89 yards. About the only thing that didn't go right at the end was Myles Garrett failing to register a sack to break Clay Matthews' club record of 62. But the record will come. For now, the Browns barely remember that horrible Jets loss and are 2-1. The Steelers fell to 1-2. "That's just a great team win," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said after the game. "I'm really proud of those guys for fighting -- short week, with last Sunday, first to battle to make it to this game and to fight for 60 minutes to get a W in front of our fans, who were outstanding." Stefanski said he was happy with the way the Browns bounced back in a short week -- especially the defense, which drew plenty of criticism after the collapse against the Jets. "Held them to three points in the second half. Guys played hard," Stefanski said. "I thought we were assignment-sound, tackling, flying to the football. .... Really proud of how those guys responded." The Steelers led 14-13 at the half, with the difference being Cade York's wind-blown missed extra point — the second time in as many games that he hit the right upright on a PAT. The Steelers had a chance to go up 3-0 in the first quarter after safety Miles Killebrew got his hand on a Corey Bojorquez 25-yard punt to start near midfield. But the big-legged Chris Boswell pushed the 50-yard attempt wide right at the closed end of the stadium. It was only the sixth miss from 50-plus in his eight-year career. The Browns, buoyed by the lucky break, went up 7-0 with 2:54 left in the first quarter on an 11-yard post route by Amari Cooper, his second TD catch in as many games. The key play on the drive was a scrappy 36-yard rumble by Chubb, who broke two tackles and could've gone all the way had he not gotten tangled up with teammate Donovan Peoples-Jones. But the Steelers answered with a touchdown of their own on a violent 5-yard run by Najee Harris to tie it at 7. Harris stiff-armed Taven Bryan and then plowed through safety John Johnson III on the way into the end zone. It was a highlight-reel run, but the key play on the drive overshadowed it. It was a spectacular one-handed 36-yard catch by rookie George Pickens, in which he laid out and caught it horizontally while remaining inbounds on the right sideline. He caught the pass over Browns cornerback and fellow rookie M.J. Emerson, who had to be in as much awe as everyone else. It was an Odell Beckham Jr.-like acrobatic catch and one that will be long remembered. It was also only the third catch of the season for the second-round pick, who said during the week that he was open 90% of the time in Sunday's 17-14 loss to the Patriots. Maybe he was right. The Browns came back on the next drive with a 7-yard leaping TD catch in the back of the end zone by Njoku, who had a career half, catching 7 of 7 targets for 69 yards. It's the kind of performance Njoku has been capable of his entire career here had he gotten the targets. Brissett also found Njoku for 13 yards on third down and Cooper for 18 to the 21-yard line. Unfortunately for the Browns, York smacked the extra point off the right upright at the closed end on a windy night at FirstEnergy. The Steelers made them pay for the miss, marching 75 yards in 10 plays and Trubisky running in on the right side from the 1 after a fake to Harris. Boswell came through with the extra point, making it 14-13 Steelers with 3:50 left in the half. The Browns had an excellent chance to go ahead at the half, but blew it. The drive began with three straight passes to Njoku of 6, 19 and 10 yards and then Kareem Hunt scrapped for an 11-yard gain to the 39. David Bell caught a 6-yarder to bring up a fourth-and-2 at the Steelers 31 with 30 seconds left, and Cooper made what appeared to be a great 3-yard catch over the middle. But upon further review, the catch was overturned, and the Browns turned the ball over on downs. Pittsburgh started at their 32 and moved into Browns territory, but not close enough for a Boswell attempt. Brissett was excellent in the first half, throwing for 134 yards, two TDs and a 118.4 rating. Up next The Browns are off this weekend before they start preparations for an Oct. 2 game at Atlanta (0-2).