Ben Roethlisberger Leads Opening Drive TD! | Steelers vs. Saints | NFL
CLEVELAND -- The Pittsburgh Steelers scored eight points with no time on the clock at the end of the first half on Sunday.
The Cleveland Browns committed two penalties to give the steelers two untimed downs. it"s a rare day when the Browns complete a game without some sort of head-shaking event, and this day has been no different.
The Steelers and QB Ben Roethlisberger took advantage of two Browns penalties late in the first half.AP Photo/David RichardSteelers coach Mike Tomlin aggressively pushed the envelope late in the half. Pittsburgh led 6-0 and had driven to the Browns" 3-yard line with three seconds left. Tomlin went for the touchdown.
Roethlisberger threw incomplete to Antonio Brown. But Browns corner Briean Boddy-Calhoun was flagged for holding Le"Veon Bell in the end zone.
That gave Pittsburgh another play from the 1 with no time on the clock. Roethlisberger took a shotgun snap, faked a handoff to Bell and threw a quick slant to Brown. It fell incomplete, but Joe Haden was flagged for interference.
Pittsburgh got another extra play.
The Browns couldn"t overcome being dominated in the first half or a long list of mistakes as they fell to 0-11 in a loss to Pittsburgh.
The Steelers" first win in 42 days felt less like a turning point and more like an exercise in survival, unless this eight-sack performance against the Browns underscores a suddenly renewed defense.
Browns rookie quarterback Cody Kessler was ruled out for the rest of Sunday"s game against the Steelers with a concussion.
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This time Roethlisberger handed to Bell from the shotgun, and he scored standing up. Roethlisberger"s two point conversion went to David Johnson, and the Steelers went to the locker room up 14-0 in a game they dominated.
"Oh yeah, it was frustrating," said Browns coach Hue Jackson. "Those are tough calls and one that was made that I thought was kind of ... it is what it is. We have to find a way to keep them out of there. That"s what it comes down to."
Jackson said he thought the Steelers could have been called for delay of game on the play that resulted in holding.
"There is nothing you can do," he said. "They either have to call it or not."
In the first half, Pittsburgh had 18 first downs to the Browns" four. The Steelers outgunned the Browns 217 to 50, and held the ball for 20:37 of the first 30 minutes. The Browns ran 17 first-half plays, which ties for the fewest plays by a team in the first half this season (Patriots, vs. Bills in week four), according to ESPN Stats & Information.
The Steelers wound up winning 24-9, snapping a four-game losing streak, and the Browns remained winless. Cleveland had 33 yards rushing in its 14th straight loss, dating to last season.
In the previous game against Baltimore, the Browns called timeout before the first snap. Sunday against Pittsburgh they gave the Steelers two extra plays at the end of the half.
Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.
Source: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18096060/pittsburgh-steelers-score-late-help-two-cleveland-browns-penalties
