STEELERS NOTES From Heinz Field

Home-field advantage: During their six victories in the first half of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers were barely threatened. Their average winning margin was 22.3 points, and they trailed for only 2 minutes, 32 minutes — and for only 12 seconds in their four previous home games. They never once trailed in the second half. This time, the Steelers trailed Cleveland by as many as 15 points and by 12 at halftime, five points at the beginning of the fourth quarter and four with less than four minutes to play, but persevered for a 31-28 victory Sunday over the Browns. “You can’t be panicky and we weren’t,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “We just had to keep plugging away and hope we could win by attrition. I think that is what we did as we moved on. ... We didn’t change what we were doing as the game moved on.” Trailing 21-9 midway through the third quarter, the Steelers scored touchdowns on three of their next four possessions. “We came in here at halftime and said, ‘Let’s buckle down. We can do this,’ ” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “And [Tomlin] said right to me as I was going out after halftime, ‘Listen, you’ve got a chance to win this at 29:30 of this half,’ and I said, ‘I’m going to get this for you.’ We did a good job offensively and defensively of getting it done.”

Key conversions: The Steelers converted on four consecutive third downs during their final two scoring drives. “We had some opportunities to get them off [the field] and get Ben on the bench,” Cleveland linebacker Kamerion Wimbley said. “Ben Roethlisberger made some big plays in third down situations that allowed them to stay on the field and get scores when they needed them.”

Not-so-special teams: Tomlin has emphasized special teams since taking over months ago. The team spent more time during training camp practicing special teams than they did under former coach Bill Cowher. The Steelers even drafted a punter, Dan Sepulveda, on the fourth round and traded for former Pro Bowl return man Allen Rossum. The results have been mixed, but they were not positive Sunday. The Steelers averaged eight yards less per punt than the Browns, and, most notably, Cleveland’s Joshua Cribbs twice returned kickoffs for 90 or more yards — including a 100-yard return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. “Just imagine what it would look like had we not [spent so much time practicing special teams],” Tomlin said. “We will address it during the week and we will move forward. The reality is, no matter how you cut it, they have 11 and we have 11,” Tomlin said. “They have a return man and one of our guys is a kicker. Somebody has to whip a block and make a tackle... We’ll continue to search for answers.”

Browns shutdown: After Cleveland’s marathon initial drive that lasted 16 plays and 8 minutes, 55 seconds, the Browns were all but shut down offensively. They gained 76 yards during that first possession and scored touchdowns three of the first four times they had the ball. But Cleveland had only 55 yards of offense the remainder of the contest until moving 32 yards on its final possession, which ended with Phil Dawson’s failed 52-yard field goal. “Obviously, we didn’t get it done in the second half,” quarterback Derek Anderson said. “They played good defensively. We didn’t get into the rhythm we had in the first half.” The Browns did score on Cribbs’ 100-yard kickoff return moments after Pittsburgh took its first lead of the game 24-21 with 11:32 to play. But the Browns went three-and-out or worse five times. “Give credit to our defense,” offensive tackle Ryan Tucker said. “We [the offense] just didn’t make the plays when we needed to.”

Field condition: Dawson, who missed a 52-yard field goal on the Browns’ final play with six seconds left, agrees with many NFL players that Heinz Field has the worst playing surface in the league. Though Dawson refused to blame the turf for the miss and said he felt like he struck the ball well — it fell short — the veteran kicker took note of the conditions. “I guarantee you can take a poll — in fact we do every year, the players — and this is the winner [for worst field] every year,” Dawson said. “But everyone knows what you’re getting yourself into when you come here. It’s a tough place to play with great tradition. They’ve got great fans here. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the field was part of it.” Heinz Field has a grass surface that, since the stadium opened in 2001, wears down as more than 20 games are played there each season. Five high school championship games will be played later this month, and inclement weather for those games often ruins the field for the rest of the season. Dawson’s kick was toward the open end of the stadium that often is affected more by the wind. Also, the Browns were rushing to beat the play clock and the snap was high.

Associated Press