Monday, November 20, 2006
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CLEVELAND -- The Browns need to stop inviting the Steelers for the holidays.
Nearly 11 months after the Steelers walloped the Browns 41-0 on their way to a Super Bowl championship, Pittsburgh put a damper on this town's Thanksgiving festivities by rallying for two touchdowns in the final 4 minutes, 14 seconds of Sunday's game.
After three first-half interceptions by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the third-year quarterback recovered to engineer fourth-quarter scoring drives of 79 and 77 yards to rally Pittsburgh to a 24-20 victory at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
The game ended with Browns quarterback Charlie Frye's final pass falling into the end zone.
"It's a shame that we lost the game," coach Romeo Crennel said following the Browns' 12th defeat to the Steelers in their past 13 games. "We turned the ball over in the second half and had too many penalties."
Faint playoff picture
The victory kept the Steelers' faint playoff hopes alive for another week. The defeat put the Browns (3-7) five games behind the AFC North Division-leading Ravens (8-2) with six to play.
"It was a gutsy effort by Ben and the offense," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "I don't think we converted a third down until the third quarter. We really has a hard time getting going."
With 32 seconds remaining, the Steelers took their only lead of the game when Roethlisberger, using a backhanded motion on the run, tossed a shovel pass to tailback Willie Parker for a 1-yard touchdown.
"Ben did a good job improvising," Parker said. "My [defender] actually blitzed so I knew that it would open it up because we were so close to the end zone."
After completing just 4-of-11 passes for 36 yards in a first half that saw the Browns jump ahead 10-0, Roethlisberger found his groove. In the second half, he connected on 21-of-33 tosses for 236 yards.
Six Steelers caught passes in the final half, with wide receiver Hines Ward pulling in six for 72 yards.
"This speaks volumes about our team," Ward said. "We may have been down, but we never gave up.
Sense of urgency
"It was a sense of urgency. We were behind the eight ball and someone had to step up. The receivers [did]."
Down the Steelers were, especially after Joshua Cribbs returned a fourth-quarter kickoff 92 yards for a 20-10 Cleveland lead with 9:21 to play.
Cribbs' return came just after Roethlisberger hit rookie Santonio Holmes with a 20-yard touchdown pass.
Holmes finished with five catches for 75 yards.
"It's good to see him get that positive feedback," Cowher said of Holmes who has struggled returning punts. "He made some good things happen even after dropping the very first third-down play."
Early on, the Browns appeared that they would win the race to four victories. The only touchdown of the first half came early in the second quarter when Roethlisberger overthrew Holmes.
The ball glanced off the outstretched arm of the former Ohio State wideout and deflected to Browns cornerback Daven Holley who raced 57 yards to the Dawg Pound.
Sean Morey's 76-yard kickoff return had the Steelers at the Cleveland 12. But 40 seconds after his first pickoff, Holley broke up a pass intended for Ward and linebacker Willie McGinest intercepted at the 7.
Takes blame
"Turning the ball over was my fault," Roethlisberger said.
The Browns ran off 14 plays, capping the drive with Phil Dawson's 23-yard field goal.
The drive's key play was a 63-yard reception by Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards who was caught at the Pittsburgh 19 by safety Troy Polamalu, who played despite suffering a concussion in last week's win over the Saints.
Jeff Reed's 43-yard field goal produced the only points of the third quarter as the Steelers reduced the deficit to seven points.
Frye completed 17-of-27 passes for 224 yards. Edwards was his favorite target, hauling in seven passes for 137 yards.
"It is disappointing for everyone because we played so hard," Frye said. "We were close, but they stole the win from us."
Neither team excelled at rushing in the rain. The Browns, led by Jason Wright with 74 yards on 18 carries, ran for 99 yards, with Frye gaining 27 on five carries.
The Browns limited Parker to 46 yards on 16 carries and the Steelers to 77.
williams@vindy.com