Cleveland Browns takes the Pittsburgh Steelers with 28 points in the first quarter

Cleveland Browns takes the Pittsburgh Steelers with 28 points in the first quarter

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The start of the first Cleveland Browns playoff game in 18 years could not have been more perfect on Sunday night.

In the opening play of the tournament, Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey kicked the ball in the head of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. After a fight for the ball, Karl Joseph of Cleveland recovered it in the end zone, giving the Browns a 7-0 lead for just 14 seconds in their wild card playoff game at Heinz Field.

According to ESPN Stats & Information data, the last time the first game of scrimmage resulted in a defensive touchdown in any game was in week 1 of 2018, when Sam Darnold launched a pick-six on his first career pass with the New York Jets.

It didn’t take long for the Browns to raise. MJ Stewart Jr. intercepted Roethlisberger on the next trip, and Baker Mayfield made the Steelers pay with a 40-yard touchdown for Jarvis Landry. It was the first time the Browns scored 14 points in the first quarter against the Steelers since 2000, a game Cleveland ended up winning.

Kareem Hunt increased the lead to 28-0 with a pair of touchdown runs, the latter created by another Roethlisberger interception. The Browns are the first team to score 28 points in the first quarter of a playoff game since the Raiders against the Oilers in 1969.

The start shocked some notable names on social media:

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