James Conner rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown Sunday as the host Pittsburgh Steelers dominated their AFC North rival Cleveland Browns 38-7.
Pittsburgh improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1978 while Cleveland (4-2) had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger was 14 of 22 passing for 162 yards, including a 28-yard scoring pass to James Washington. Chase Claypool and Benny Snell Jr. also each ran for a touchdown. Minkah Fitzpatrick had an interception return for a touchdown.
The Steelers' defense dominated. The Browns, who entered as the NFL's top rushing team, were held to 75 rushing yards, and Cleveland was an anemic 1-of-12 on third-down conversions.
Cleveland's Baker Mayfield was 10 of 18 for 119 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rashard Higgins. Mayfield threw two interceptions and was sacked four times.
Mayfield entered the game with bruised ribs, and that injury seemed to be aggravated when he was hit by Pittsburgh's Cam Heyward late in the first half, but he returned for the third quarter. With the Browns facing a 24-point deficit, Case Keenum came in at quarterback for the fourth quarter.
Steelers starting inside linebacker Devin Bush left in the second quarter because of a knee injury. ESPN reported that Bush will need surgery and is out for the season with a torn ACL.
The Steelers' opening drive ended with Chris Boswell's 35-yard field goal.
Cleveland's first possession ended with Fitzpatrick's interception of Mayfield's pass over the middle and 33-yard return for a touchdown, giving Pittsburgh a 10-0 lead.
Roethlisberger hit just 2 of 8 passes in the first quarter, but was 5-for-5 on the first drive in the second, including a 36-yard completion down the left side to Claypool that helped set up Conner's 3-yard scoring run for a 17-0 Pittsburgh lead.
After Cam Sutton picked off Mayfield, Washington was wide open down the right side for a 28-yard touchdown catch for a 24-0 lead.
Cleveland struck with 1:01 left in the first half when Mayfield's 13-yard pass found Higgins alone on the right edge of the end zone, making it 24-7.
In the third quarter, Claypool's 3-yard run to the left pylon gave the Steelers a 31-7 lead, and Snell pushed it to 38-7 with a 1-yard walk into the end zone with 8:08 left.
--Field Level Media
Cleveland | Pittsburgh | |
Kareem Hunt | Player | James Conner |
13 | Attempts | 20 |
40 | Yards | 101 |
3.1 | Avg Yards | 5.0 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
10 | Long | 14 |
Cleveland | Pittsburgh | |
Austin Hooper | Player | Chase Claypool |
5 | Receptions | 4 |
52 | Yards | 74 |
10.4 | Avg Yards | 18.5 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
36 | Long | 36 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Cleveland | 220 | 75 | 145 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 |
Pittsburgh | 277 | 129 | 148 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4.0 | 1 |