The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered their biggest margin of defeat to the Cleveland Browns in 25 years Sunday, losing 31-10 at Cleveland.
Not since the infamous 1989 season opener, when they lost 51-0 at Three Rivers Stadium, have the Steelers lost by so many points to the Browns. In 2003, the Browns beat them 33-13 at Pittsburgh. The Steelers went 6-10 that season.
At least the Steelers (3-3) aren't on pace to go 6-10 this year. But after two straight 8-8 seasons, they've again gravitated toward .500. They're 21-21 in their last 42 games going back to Week 15 of the 2011 season.
The Browns (3-2) broke from their trend of nail-biting finishes. Each of their first four games were decided by three points or less. They made sure that didn't happen again by scoring 21 points in the second quarter on Sunday and taking a 21-3 halftime lead. The lead grew to 31-3 before the Steelers scored a meaningless touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Even though the Steelers beat the Browns 30-27 in the opener, the Browns owned the momentum in the rivalry after their 24-point comeback in the second half of that game. They've outscored the Steelers 55-13 in their last six quarters against them, and Sunday's win was just their sixth over the Steelers in 33 games since they came back to Cleveland in 1999.
Add in the Browns' rally from 25 points down last week at Tennessee, the biggest road comeback victory in NFL history, and the Browns have outscored their opponents 50-10 in the last six quarters.
The Steelers defense, which already has three starters on the shelf, suffered three more injuries Sunday. Steve McLendon, Brett Keisel and Mike Mitchell were the casualties, according to Scott Brown of ESPN:
NT Steve McLendon (shoulder sprain), DE Brett Keisel (knee sprain) and S Mike Mitchell (knee sprain) are the injuries of note.
— Scott Brown (@ScottBrown_ESPN) October 12, 2014 According to Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Keisel's injury appears to be minor:
Keisel said he will be OK. He left late in the game with a left knee injury
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly_Trib) October 12, 2014 To add a little insult to those injuries, the Steelers now occupy last place in the AFC North, although they have the same number of wins as the first-place Cincinnati Bengals, who are 3-1-1 after tying the Carolina Panthers 37-37 Sunday.
It's still a winnable division.
//from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1v173Zo
via IFTTT October 12, 2014 at 05:26PM
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