Tim Benz: ‘Transmission of complaints’ after Steelers suffered humiliating defeat in Cleveland playoff

Tim Benz: ‘Transmission of complaints’ after Steelers suffered humiliating defeat in Cleveland playoff

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1 hour ago

It was just the latest in a long list of games that the Steelers couldn’t miss and that they inevitably lost.

Washington and Cincinnati Bengals this year. For the New York Jets last year. To Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos in 2018. To Ryan Mallett and the Baltimore Ravens in 2015.

Tim Tebow in the playoffs. Blake Bortles in the playoffs. The San Diego Chargers in the 1994 AFC championship game.

You know the list.

Now, a Cleveland Browns team afflicted with coronavirus with a patchwork depth chart and a skeleton version of its coaching staff has just arrived in Pittsburgh and attacked the Steelers 48-37 in the postseason.

It was the most humiliating playoff defeat the team has ever suffered. And given some of the examples I just listed, that says something.

Here are the highlights in our final “Complaints Statement” for 2020-21. And it is just a sample of what deserves to be mentioned.

The first quarter: It must be the most pathetic 15 minutes of football in the franchise’s history.

Probably the most comical start to any playoff game in NFL history, the Steelers trailed the Browns 14-0 in the first six minutes of competition.

This is even worse than the 14-0 deficit that the Steelers created for themselves against Jacksonville in the first 10 minutes of the 2017 playoffs.

What I believe is the worst playoff start for any team in NFL history.

The first snap of the game went over the head of Ben Roethlisberger and was recovered by Cleveland in the end zone.

Way to jump the ball, Ben.

Then Roethlisberger launched an interception on the next drive, which eventually led to this ridiculously easy to catch and run touchdown from Baker Mayfield to Jarvis Landry.

And that was more or less the ball game. But the Browns still managed to score two more touchdowns even before the first period ended.

Oh, and the second half started from where the team stopped. Most of the fake offensive line started at once on the first snap attempt.

The last move of the second quarter: The Steelers finally showed some life with a touchdown of 13 moves in the second quarter. He cut the deficit to 28-7.

Maybe they will be able to enter the interval with “only” 21 points?

No. The defense would not let the momentum last for long.

As soon as the Browns kicked off 1:38 at the end of the break, they marched nine moves and 64 yards in just one minute and 10 seconds, as the defense showed no resistance. Austin Hooper took a touchdown to extend the lead to 28 points.

All anyone will say after that game is how bad the Steelers attack is. Make no mistake. The defense was exactly the same kind of gong show as the attack.

Cleveland ended up with 390 total yards and an average of six yards per snap.

Coordinator Keith Butler’s players were slow and lethargic. The attack was terrible. The execution and planning of the game was unfortunate. It was a horrible performance.

Cleveland’s first race in the fourth quarter: Steelers had pulled 12 points earlier in the quarter.

After a punt (we’ll talk about it later), the Browns started driving on their own 20-yard line.

Cleveland was throwing the ball in the Steelers’ throat (we’ll see that later too). Inexplicably, though, Cleveland played twice. He created a third and two of the Browns’ own 22.

For some reason, TJ Watt – and his 15 leading NFL sacks – was deployed on the roof. In time, Mayfield completed a short pass for Landry, who took 17 yards and a first down.

Three clicks later, running back Nick Chubb was running 40 yards through the Steelers defense for a touchdown with the nail in the coffin, making it 42-23.

Again, stupid scheme. Worse execution.

Game Rift: As we warned you during the week here in “Breakfast With Benz”, the Browns can run the ball and the Steelers cannot.

Boy, that was always on display on Sunday night.

The Steelers ended up with just 52 yards on 16 loads, an average of just 3.3 yards per load. Meanwhile, the Browns swallowed 127 yards on 31 shipments, on the way to an average of 4.1.

Chubb led the way with 76 yards. Not to mention his 69-yard reception. He will become the Steelers’ biggest killer in his career. Kareem Hunt was good, totaling 48 yards in eight loads and two touchdowns.

Where was Watt? Missing Minkah: Speaking of Watt, he didn’t show up.

The defensive player candidate of the year made three tackles – one for defeat, and that was it. Mysterious trips to the bank and being on the cover at reckless times did not help this cause.

In addition, All-Pro security Minkah Fitzpatrick has been part of zero turnovers for the past seven weeks, ending 2020 in the same quiet way that ended 2019.

The Steelers defense had no turns and no bag against the Browns. Which is impressive, given that the Steelers led the NFL with 56 sacks and was second with 27 takeaways. The Steelers had eight sacks and three takeaways against Cleveland in both regular season bouts.

Here’s a wild statistic. Mayfield and Roethlisberger agreed to launch 102 times. Watt, Stephon Tuitt, Cameron Heyward and Myles Garrett were the pass brokers in the game. They combined 42 bags during the season. Still, there were no bags registered by either team.

Oh, right, the punts: As Mike Tomlin said after the team lost in Buffalo December 15, “If you can’t get a meter, you don’t deserve to win.”

Well, that’s apparently what Tomlin was admitting when he hit his own 46 in a quarter to one on the first snap of the fourth half. His team was losing 35-23 at the time.

He also bet on a 28-0 drop in fourth place to 9 against 38 from Cleveland. That was at the beginning of the second half.

In Pittsburgh, we’re used to waving terrible yellow towels. On Sunday night, it looked like Tomlin was waving a white flag.

I wish the NFL was paying more attention. We might not have needed to watch the second half if Roger Goodell had let them surrender.

Tim Benz is an editor on the Tribune-Review team. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets can be posted again. All emails are subject to publication, unless otherwise specified.

Tags:
Sports | Steelers / NFL | Breakfast with Benz | Tim Benz Speakers

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