Cleveland wallops Pittsburgh 31-10

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Brian Hoyer passed for 217 yards and pulled off a rarity for a Cleveland quarterback, leading the Browns to a 31-10 rout over Ben Roethlisberger and the rival Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Hoyer threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Cameron and improved to 6-2 as Cleveland’s starter as the surprising Browns (3-2) beat the Steelers for just the third time in 23 games. Cleveland hadn’t beaten Pittsburgh so badly since a 51-0 shutout in 1989.

Ben Tate had two rushing TDs and rookie Isaiah Crowell added another one as the Browns opened a 21-3 lead in the first half and rolled to the easy win one week after staging the largest comeback in NFL history by a road team.

Roethlisberger suffered just his second loss in 20 games against Cleveland. The Steelers (3-3) never found a rhythm on offense and their defense, missing two starters, gave up too many big plays.

The victory legitimizes the Browns’ turnaround and Hoyer as the team’s unquestioned leader. There were some doubts about Hoyer when the season began, and with rookie Johnny Manziel on the roster, it was assumed Cleveland would eventually undergo yet another change at quarterback.