Bungling Browns foiled

Five turnovers and red-zone inefficiency led to Pittsburgh's 13-6 win.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CLEVELAND -- Welcome to AFC North football, where there are no consistencies or guarantees, where every Sunday in the NFL brings the unexpected.
Early last month, the Cleveland Browns put together one of their most complete performances since returning to the league in 1999. On national television, they beat up the Pittsburgh Steelers 33-13 in the Steel City.
How sweet the feeling then. How bitter the feeling now, and how much difference seven weeks makes, because the Steelers crashed the Browns' party Sunday with a 13-6 victory at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
And then they said "thank you."
"I don't care what we do on national television. We take every game seriously," said Steelers coach Bill Cowher, referring to the Oct. 5 game in Pittsburgh. "The fact is, this is a divisional game. The way it is right now in our division, we can still make the playoffs."
Miscues
Taking advantage of five Cleveland turnovers -- three fumbles and two interceptions -- the Steelers scored all 13 points and held off the Browns and 73,000 orange towel-waving fans to take a small step up in the division.
Slight problem for both teams, though -- time. With the Baltimore Ravens (6-5) and Cincinnati Bengals (6-5) winning Sunday, they each increased their lead in the AFC North to two games over Cleveland (4-7) and Pittsburgh (4-7) with five remaining.
"Until the league sends us a letter saying 'you are absolutely out of this deal,' we have five games left," Browns coach Butch Davis said.
But it's getting harder with every week, especially if the Browns fail to correct their inefficiencies.
Failure to control
The first priority has to be turnovers.
"We had success running the ball and throwing the ball," Davis said, "but if you turn the ball over that many times, you're not going to win."
Running back James Jackson fumbled twice and backfield mate Jamel White once, and Holcomb threw two interceptions. His second pick, by Steelers cornerback Chad Scott, came while trying to drive the Browns to a tying touchdown with just under two minutes remaining.
"Chad Scott made a good play. He ran the route for us," Holcomb said. "The pass shouldn't have been thrown. I have to throw the ball away there."
The second is red zone production.
The Browns drove inside Pittsburgh's 20-yard line four times and came away with just six points -- on two field goals by Phil Dawson.
"You have to punch the ball in when you get down there," Holcomb said. "We moved the ball up and down the field, but what did it get you? Six points."
Maybe the most damaging blow came with 6 minutes, 36 seconds remaining in the third quarter when the Browns, trailing 10-6, were stuffed three straight times from the 1-yard line.
On fourth down, the Browns ran a reverse to Dennis Northcutt, but he was cut down inches short of the goal line. Davis lost a challenge claiming Northcutt wasn't down by contact and the ball broke the goal's plane.
"But only one guy gets to look in that [replay] window," Davis said. "Nobody else in America gets to look."
If not for their turnovers and inability to score inside the red zone, the Browns appeared to dominate the game -- at least on paper. They outgained Pittsburgh in total yardage 303-168.
"We felt good. We moved the ball the whole game, but we just had the bad breaks," Northcutt said. "We had more yards, but they won the game, and that's what it's about."
Providing hope
The Browns injected hope into the lifeless Steelers by fumbling twice in the first half.
Jackson and White each lost control of the ball -- with James Farrior and Brent Alexander recovering, respectively -- and each time the Steelers turned the miscues into points.
Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox found tight end Mark Bruener for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 6:28 remaining in the first half and Jeff Reed kicked a 23-yard field goal at 2:09 to put Pittsburgh up 10-6.
That erased a 6-0 lead Cleveland built on the leg of Dawson, who kicked 27- and 31-yard field goals.
But the Browns' inability to reach the endzone on those two scoring drives were hurtful, not taking advantage of chances from Pittsburgh's 10- and 14-yard lines, and it became a precursor of things to come.
richesson@vindy.com