Oct. 2, 2026
Thursday night takeaways: Cleveland is 3-1 and I don't want to talk about it
Let me tell you how it happened, and then let me go lie down.
The second quarter decided it
Scoring by quarter: Browns 2nd 21 pts, Steelers 4th 14 pts, Steelers 1st 7 pts, Browns 4th 6 pts, Steelers 2nd 3 pts
- Cleveland scored 21 in that quarter and nothing in the other three. A 28-yard run, a 2-yard punch-in, and a short touchdown pass right before the half.
- Pittsburgh scored seven in the first and three in the second, then nothing at all until the fourth.
Five sacks is five sacks
Rush attempts: Browns 27, Steelers 19
- Cleveland got Rodgers five times for 30 yards and hit him 10 times.
- Pittsburgh ran it 19 times all game while the Browns ran 27. You cannot drop back 40 times behind that line and expect to win in October. I have been saying this since August.
The fourth quarter nearly saved it
- Down 24-16, Rodgers hit a 21-yarder and then a 3-yarder with 1:46 left, then ran in the two-point conversion himself to tie it at 24.
- Cleveland went down the field and kicked a 56-yarder anyway. The Browns took 14 penalties for 88 yards and it still did not matter.
What it means
- Cleveland is 3-1 and Deshaun Watson keeps making the throw that wins it. I am not ready to discuss that.
- Pittsburgh is 2-2 with 24 first downs and 361 yards and two interceptions thrown. The yardage is there. Forty pass attempts to 19 carries is a coaching story, not a talent story.