The Cleveland Browns successfully turned things around with three touchdowns and a double-digit lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second quarter itself, during the Week 4 game. The Steelers’ defense struggled to keep Deshaun Watson’s offense contained. And the pressure was taking its toll on the players.
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During halftime, the Steelers defensive tackle, Cam Heyward, seemed pretty upset with how things turned out in the first two quarters.
“That’s f—ed up man,” Heyward seemingly screamed at a player on the defensive team. “That’s f—ing crazy!”
Meanwhile, T.J. Watt decided to take some control over the defensive game. He asked an official for the headset and called up the booth to demand changes from the defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham. And judging from his facial expressions, it was certainly not a pleasant conversation.
While the first quarter of the game went to the Steelers after Aaron Rodgers threw a touchdown pass and established a 7-0 lead, Watson turned things around in the second quarter. And it all began with the Browns running back Jaleel McLaughlin running 28 yards to score Cleveland’s first touchdown.
In their next drive, following a 60-yard pass, running back Quinshon Judkins scored the second touchdown by rushing just two yards. And the third touchdown came with a short 2-yard pass from Watson to tight end Harold Fannin. Even though the Steelers managed to put in a field goal, the Browns secured a 21-10 lead.
But it wasn’t just the Steelers’ defense that was at fault. Aaron Rodgers threw an interception in the first drive of the second quarter. Browns cornerback Denzel Ward intercepted the pass intended for Michael Pittman.
In their next drive, Rodgers got sacked by Isaiah McGuire during a third-and-4 at Cleveland 24. It spoiled the Steelers’ plan for a touchdown attempt, and they had to go for a field goal. However, unfortunately, Chris Boswell, the Steelers’ kicker, sent the ball wide left and missed the field goal. Nevertheless, later he secured a field goal for 31 yards, after Rodgers failed to complete a single pass through the first three downs with just below 30 seconds remaining before halftime.
The Steelers’ emotions are running high because it’s been 46 years since they last won a game on a Thursday. And they haven’t won a game at Cleveland since 2021. To make things worse, they even had to endure the animosity of the Dawg Pound crowd.
The hostile environment of Huntington Bank Field is clearly fracturing the Steelers from the inside out. The pressure even caused Rodgers to curse Mike McCarthy in the first quarter. Nevertheless, Graham and McCarthy still closed the gap with about 10 minutes left in the game, and the teams tied at 24 with less than two minutes left in the game. However, at the end, Browns kicker Andre Szmyt connected on a 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, leading his team to win 27-24.