Browns season ends losing at Pittsburgh; No playoffs for Steelers

PITTSBURGH, PA — The Cleveland Browns’ disappointing season came to an end Sunday afternoon losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 28-14, at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Deshaun Watson went 19-29 for 230 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He was also sacked seven times. Nick Chubb and David Njoku each caught a touchdown.

The Steelers went 9-15 on third down.

“You got to get off the field,” said coach Kevin Stefanski. “Something we did in the first game against them, but not today.”

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Myles Garrett had one sack in the game and finishes the season with 15, tying his own single-season franchise record.

Cleveland ends the season with a 7-10 record while Pittsburgh is 9-8 and has not finished with a record below .500 since 2003. The Steelers missed the playoffs because the Miami Dolphins beat the New York Jets.

The Browns finish in last place in the AFC North.

Pittsburgh had a chance to take the lead in the first quarter but Najee Harris fumbled at the Browns one-yard line and Alex Wright to keep the game scoreless after one quarter.

Cleveland took the lead in the second quarter when Watson threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Njoku to take a 7-0 lead. The Steelers responded when George Pickens caught a 31-yard touchdown pass on third and 15 to tie the game at 7-7.

Levi Wallace’s picked off Watson with 1:11 left in the first half and led to Chris Boswell’s 49-yard field goal to give Pittsburgh a 10-7 lead at halftime.

Boswell made a 34-yard field goal to open the third quarter to increase it to 13-7. Watson threw an interception Damontae Kazee and it led to a four-yard touchdown run by Najee Harris to increase Pittsburgh’s advantage to 20-7 after three quarters.

The Browns capped a 77-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown pass from Watson to Chubb to cut the deficit to 20-14. The Steelers converted three times on third down during their next series as they drove 75-yards on 14 plays that Derek Watt capped with one-yard touchdown run to go up, 28-14.

Cleveland drove to the Steeler 39-yard line on their last drive but Watson was sacked twice, including on the last play of the game.

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Stefanski would not elaborate on what next season would like after the game.

“Those kind of big picture thoughts are for (Monday) tomorrow,” he said.

He appreciated the effort his team gave heading into Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh.

“That locker room fought like crazy,” he said. “We had guys that wanted to put everything into this thing. So I’m appreciative of that.”

Cleveland ends the 2022-23 NFL season with a 7-10 record.

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