The Browns made it clear from the moment they won their first playoff spot in 18 years that they were not satisfied.
A national prime-time audience saw exactly what it meant on Sunday, on a historic night that Browns fans won’t soon forget. And if they were a little late, they missed one of the best first playoff quarters the NFL has ever seen.
With four quick touchdowns, the Browns made history in the NFL with 28 points in the first quarter, the highest number ever in the playoffs, and accumulated some more praise along the way to ensure the franchise’s first postseason victory since 1994.
Perhaps more importantly, however, the Browns’ 48-37 victory over the Steelers was yet another demonstration of the kind of determination that brought the team to this point in the NFL calendar. Without their head coach, without a number of key contributors, and with just one practice under their belts after a week that was drastically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Browns dived deep and played the opportunistic and complementary type of football that wins games in January.
The Browns advance to the AFC Divisional Round and will face Kansas City Chiefs at No. 1 at Arrowhead Stadium. The kickoff is scheduled for Sunday at 3:05 pm on CBS.
Cleveland’s defense forced five turnovers, the biggest draw of the season, with three of them taking place in the first quarter. The Browns defeated Ben Roethlisberger four times and forced veteran QB to try alone to bring the Steelers back from a double-digit deficit they faced almost all night.
Baker Mayfield fired with a quick touchdown pass to Jarvis Landry and finished with 263 yards and three touchdowns in the first playoff game of his career.
Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt were a force from start to finish and were equally dangerous on the ground and in the air. Chubb ran for 76 yards and added 69 in the air, most coming from a 40-yard screen touchdown early in the fourth period. Hunt scored twice while accumulating 61 attack yards.
Landry led all Browns receivers with five 92-yard receptions and a touchdown. Austin Hooper added seven receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown.
Roethlisberger launched an impressive 501 yards and four touchdowns, but the Steelers never came close to 12, despite dominating possession time and beating the Browns, 553-390.
It all started with the first snap of the game and it only got better and better from there on the Browns’ 28-point record in the first quarter.
Steelers C Maurkice Pouncey sent the first snap of the game over the air just above Ben Roethlisberger’s head, and no one got his hands on it until the 2-yard line. The ball escaped a few more times before Browns S Karl Joseph secured it for the impressive defensive touchdown at the opening of the game.
MJ Stewart caught the ball in the Steelers’ next possession when he took Roethlisberger and placed the Browns close to midfield. Cleveland took just three moves to turn the takeaway into a touchdown, while Mayfield fired a blow at Landry, who ran across the field and curled up in the end zone for a 40 yard touchdown with 9:46 to play in the fourth.
Hunt scored his first of two touchdowns to cap a six-yard, 65-yard run, making his way to the end zone and dragging some Steelers with him along the way in an 11-yard touchdown run. That came with 4:40 left in the quarter, but the Browns were not ready.
Sheldrick Redwine dived to intercept Roethlisberger in the ensuing possession, rose and returned him to the Steelers’ 15-yard line. Hunt punched 8 yards, giving the Browns an impressive 28 points in the first quarter with 1:56 left.
The Steelers closed the scoring with 1:44 to play in the second quarter with a James Conner touchdown, but the Browns provided an immediate response. Needing only 1:10, the Browns drove 64 yards and recovered a 28-point lead in the 7-yard pass from Mayfield to Hooper.
The Browns ended up taking a 25-point lead at half-time after a field goal by Chris Boswell in the last second.
The Steelers roared back in the third quarter with consecutive touchdown attempts to make Cleveland’s big advantage much more manageable.
Roethlisberger and the Steelers moved at a rapid pace and caught almost all of their meters in the air. Eric Ebron scored in the first touchdown, a 17 yard, while JuJu Smith-Schuster took the second, a 5 yard in the fourth and goalkeeper to make the score 35-23 with 2:57 remaining in the third quarter.
Although it failed a little in the third quarter, the Cleveland attack woke up in style early in the fourth quarter to relieve some of the stress.
Mayfield found Landry for a great third-down conversion with a 17-yard pass, and the Browns were in the end zone a few moves later when Chubb picked up a screen, passed two defenders and ran for the 40-yard touchdown.