PITTSBURGH – Well, JuJu, those really aren’t the old Browns anymore.
As if the Browns needed more motivation to march to Heinz Field and defeat the Steelers for the first time since 2003, Pittsburgh receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster disrespected them during the week, inspiring them to play with their hair on fire and take the ball though five times on Sunday, on the way to a 48-37 victory over the Steelers.
When it was over, they caught Ben Roethlisberger – who shot for 501 yards – four times and won the battle 5-0. He also played four TDs.
The victory – in their first playoff game since the 2002 season and their first playoff victory since the 1994 season – earned them a trip to the divisional round next week in Kansas City against the current Super Bowl champion, Chiefs (14-2).
The game is Sunday at 3:05 pm on CBS.
The explosion was achieved with coach Kevin Stefanski trapped in his basement with COVID-19 and having no taste or smell, and special team coach Mike Priefer, who was born in Cleveland and grew up a Browns fan, serving in the role of coach main.
If all goes well, Stefanski will be back on the sideline next Sunday in Kansas City.
The Browns had a training session all week on Friday and an in-person tour on Saturday before heading to Pittsburgh.
“I really want to congratulate our fans. I’m one of them, so I know what it means, ”said Priefer after the victory. “It was a great victory for the team. We played in all three phases and it was a great victory for our team and for our city.
“I told these guys that I admire them a lot. I respect them. They had so much adversity in terms of schedule changes – they never blinked. They took each meeting very seriously. … As coaches, we were probably a little more concerned than they were. .. They had a lot of resistance and did it all year. “
How do we know that Smith-Schuster’s words ignited the Browns?
The Browns’ defensive side, Myles Garrett, promised on Friday that they would prove he was wrong.
Then, about 4 and a half hours before the game, Baker Mayfield (3 TDs, 0 INTs) posted a message on Instagram, “Browns is the Browns, ” an excerpt from the recipient’s inflamed quote, in which he said,“ They ‘they are still the same Browns that I played every year. I think they are gray faces with no name. They have some good players on their team. But at the end of the day … the Browns are the Browns. … I am very happy that we are playing with them again. “
“It wasn’t about that, specifically,” said Mayfield after the victory. “It’s the same quote, yes, but we believe in the people in this room, no matter what. … We knew everyone was telling us. We knew what mentality we were going to have, which was to release and give everything we had. “
It doesn’t matter that the Browns were without four players – including starting point guard Joel Bitonio and defender Denzel Ward – and four technical assistants because of the virus.
They also missed the right tackle Jack Conklin due to a hamstring injury in the second quarter. And then Michael Dunn, Bitonio’s replacement who was promoted from the training team on Saturday, was injured in the second half. He was replaced by Blake Hance, hired by the Browns last weekend on the Jets’ training team.
“Michael got hurt and a guy named Blake that I literally introduced myself to before the game started in the fourth period,” Mayfield said in a post-game interview with NBC.
The Browns, who have not won a playoff game since a 20-13 victory over the Patriots in the wild card round after the 1994 season, came into play with the mantra “We want more” and their message was loud and clear that getting there the playoffs were not what they came for.
On Friday, Garrett noticed the Steelers that “these guys are hungry and we are going to take this to them”.
And they did just that, with Karl Joseph retrieving Maurkice Pouncey’s penalty sent by air into the final zone on the first play of the game to make it 7-0 with just 14 seconds of play. Take this, JuJu. See the streak of 17 straight losses in Pittsburgh. See Big Ben, who had 23-2-1 against the Browns.
By the time the first quarter ended, the Browns set an NFL playoff record of 28 points, thanks to two more takeaways. One was an interception by MJ Stewart and a 30-yard return on his second trip that led to a 40-yard Jarvis Landry grab and run for a tank destroyer; the other, a choice of Sheldrick Redwine on a dropped ball at the end of the quarter that led to an 8-yard Kareem Hunt that made it 28-0.
But the Browns had yet another take-away remaining in the first half, an interception by Porter Gustin after a pass hit by Vincent Taylor. The Browns, who had already lost Conklin at that time, didn’t score any points in that third interception, but why get greedy, right?
The Steelers finally made it to the scoreboard with 1:44 remaining in a 1-yard run by James Conner, but Mayfield attacked with a 7-yard pass to Austin Hooper to make the 35-7 before Chris Boswell hit a 49-yard marker as the time expired to reduce the deficit to 35-10.
The 35 points drew a Browns record for most points in any half of a playoff game.
Of course, no leadership is safe in Pittsburgh or with Big Ben in charge, and he launched two touchdown passes in the third quarter, one 17-yard for Eric Ebron and one 5-yard for Smith-Schuster who reduced the deficit to 35 – 23 with 2:57 remaining on the third, he may even have Stefanski at the end of his couch.
The Browns lost three times in possession of the next ball, but Mike Tomlin chose to punt in the fourth and 1 of his 46 in the first play of the fourth period, a questionable decision. The Steelers delayed the punt trying to remove the Browns’ handicap – and the Browns went to the jugular on the next drive.
Jarvis Landry took two big passes and then Nick Chubb took a short pass and ran over the defenders for a 40-yard touchdown that made the 42-23 with 12:32 remaining in the game.
But Roethlisberger darted his way across the field, completing a 25-yard pass to Smith-Schuster and a 29-yard TD pass to Chase Claypool to close to 42-29 with 11:08 remaining. The two-point pass failed.
Priefer pleaded with the Browns not to let the Steelers return to the game in the second half, and they kept their foot on the gas until the end. They kicked a 24-yard field goal with 4:28 left to cap a 13-game drive and make the 45-29.
Sione Takitaki defeated Roethlisberger for the fourth time with 3:16 left, and the Browns made it 48-29 before the Steelers closed in 11 with a final TD pass.
Stefanski set the tone for the week, reminding his players on Monday that “the 14 teams in it want to win a Super Bowl”. Little did he know that he would test positive for COVID-19 the next day along with four others and would have to lose the game. But the Browns met with Priefer as head coach and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt as top scorer, and took this to the Steelers from the start.
Conklin made it clear that the Browns “want to win a Super Bowl and bring it to Cleveland”.
Now they can keep trying to do just that.
Browns playoffs shirts, hats for sale: This is where Cleveland Browns fans can order shirts and caps celebrating the team’s qualification for the 2020 NFL playoffs.
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