Ben Roethlisberger returned from a four-game suspension to throw three touchdown passes and the Pittsburgh Steelers used another strong defensive effort en route to a 28-10 victory over the visiting Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Rashard Mendenhall added 84 yards on 27 carries and a 2-yard TD for the Steelers, who have won 13 of the last 14 in this series. Roethlisberger was 16 of 27 for 267 yards.
Roethlisberger was picked off by rookie cornerback Joe Haden on his first possession, but the two-time Super Bowl champion took the Steelers (4-1) 81 yards on 11 plays on his next chance. He completed four of five passes for 66 yards on the drive, including a 29-yard touchdown to Mike Wallace.
Roethlisberger needed just three completions and five plays to take Pittsburgh 96 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter. He hit Wallace for 46 yards, tight end Heath Miller for 36 and found Hines Ward for the 8-yard touchdown that gave Pittsburgh a 14-3 edge.
Pittsburgh harassed Cleveland (1-5) rookie quarterback Colt McCoy all afternoon. Safety Ryan Clark picked off the third-round pick on his first possession, and the Steelers sacked him five times and forced three turnovers.
McCoy completed 23 of 33 for 281 yards and two interceptions and found the end zone with 4:17 left on a 12-yard touchdown to tight end Benjamin Watson to cut the deficit to 21-10. But Roethlisberger hit Miller for 14 yards after McCoy's second interception to cap the scoring.
Cleveland running back Joshua Cribbs suffered a helmet-to-helmet collision with Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison in the second quarter and missed the rest of the game.
Cleveland | Pittsburgh | |
Peyton Hillis | Player | Rashard Mendenhall |
12 | Attempts | 27 |
41 | Yards | 84 |
3.4 | Avg Yards | 3.1 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
14 | Long | 25 |
Cleveland | Pittsburgh | |
Benjamin Watson | Player | Mike Wallace |
6 | Receptions | 3 |
88 | Yards | 90 |
14.7 | Avg Yards | 30.0 |
1 | Touchdowns | 1 |
23 | Long | 50 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Cleveland | 327 | 69 | 258 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 |
Pittsburgh | 378 | 121 | 257 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6.0 | 1 |