James Conner ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns, and Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown hooked up for two scores through the air Sunday as the Pittsburgh Steelers overcame a slow start to down the visiting Cleveland Browns 33-18.
Roethlisberger passed for 257 yards for Pittsburgh (4-2-1).
Baker Mayfield threw for 180 yards with touchdowns to Antonio Callaway and Seth DeValve for Cleveland (2-5-1). Greg Joseph kicked two field goals but missed a field goal and an extra-point attempt.
Cleveland scored on its game-opening possession for the first time this season, on Joseph's 34-yard field goal. He added a 45-yarder with 2:34 left in the opening quarter to make it 6-0, but missed wide right 1:31 into the second quarter on a 41-yard attempt that would have made it 9-0.
The Steelers got their first first down of the game on the ensuing possession, on Roethlisberger's 15-yard pass to Brown on third-and-11. That drive ended with those two combining for a 43-yard score for a 7-6 lead at 11:26 of the second quarter, as Brown got behind the Browns' Denzel Ward and raced into the end zone.
Joe Haden intercepted a Mayfield pass on the next drive, setting up an 87-yard Pittsburgh scoring drive. Roethlisberger's ninth straight completion was a screen to Brown for a 1-yard touchdown, making it 14-6 with 8 seconds left in the first half.
The Steelers got a safety for a 16-6 lead at 8:07 of the third quarter when Cleveland's Desmond Harrison was flagged for holding in the end zone.
A series of Pittsburgh errors followed. The Browns recovered the free kick at the Pittsburgh 24 when returner Ryan Switzer chose not to field the ball. Two Steelers penalties -- roughing the passer and holding in the end zone -- set up Mayfield's 1-yard scoring pass to Callaway, on which defensive pass interference was called but declined. Joseph shanked the extra point left, leaving it 16-12.
Pittsburgh responded with a 75-yard drive, with Conner running 12 yards into the end zone behind a Brown block for a 23-12 lead.
Chris Boswell's 42-yard field goal boosted it to 26-12, and Conner popped a 22-yard scoring run with 2:04 left to make it 33-12.
Mayfield threw a 24-yard scoring pass to DeValve with 6 seconds left to cap the scoring.
--Field Level Media
Cleveland | Pittsburgh | |
Nick Chubb | Player | James Conner |
18 | Attempts | 24 |
65 | Yards | 146 |
3.6 | Avg Yards | 6.1 |
0 | Touchdowns | 2 |
20 | Long | 30 |
Cleveland | Pittsburgh | |
Jarvis Landry | Player | Antonio Brown |
8 | Receptions | 6 |
39 | Yards | 74 |
4.9 | Avg Yards | 12.3 |
0 | Touchdowns | 2 |
21 | Long | 43 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Cleveland | 237 | 74 | 163 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 2 |
Pittsburgh | 421 | 168 | 253 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2.0 | 0 |