The Cleveland Browns took some breaks from Sunday playoff game after a COVID-19 outbreak hampered their preparation.
You got a huge one off the bat. And then some.
When the game first started, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a critical mistake that resulted in an early 7-0 lead for the Browns. From there, the locks remained open.
Disastrous start a sign of the future of Steelers
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger posed in a shotgun as the Steelers went on the offensive from their own 22-yard line. Center Maurkice Pouncey missed his target with the snap and sent the ball over Roethlisberger’s head towards the end zone.
Roethlisberger and James Conner couldn’t correct the loose ball before Brown’s safety Karl Joseph rushed it in the end zone for a touchdown.
The touchdown was the first of four for Cleveland in the opening verse when the Browns exploded to a staggering 28-0 lead, setting the NFL record for the most points a team scored in the first quarter of a playoff game.
Cleveland couldn’t have got a better start to their first playoff game since 2002. (AP Photo / Don Wright)
And Cleveland were the team that reportedly came in unprepared after being banned from training and playing without head coach Kevin Stefanski due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
2 Steelers drives, 2 turnovers
Pittsburgh’s second trip didn’t go much better than the first. The Steelers handled seven snaps this time around before Roethlsberger intercepted cornerback MJ Stewart while under pressure from the Cleveland defensive front.
Three games later, the Browns made Pittsburgh pay. Baker Mayfield linked up with Jarvis Landry on a third pass that Landry brought into the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown.
The story goes on
And just like that, the Browns took the lead 14-0 by 5:14 seconds.
Brown’s offense rumbles
Pittsburgh stumbled upon their next possession and prepared Cleveland for their first non-turnover possession. The Browns’ offense picked up where their defense left off, playing six games for 65 yards that ended with an 11-yard touchdown run by Kareem Hunt.
And another Roethlisberger choice
It wasn’t long before Cleveland sent its offense back on the field. After four games, the Steelers turned the ball over again. This time, a Roethlisberger pass ricocheted from the hands of broad recipient Diontae Johnson into the hands of Brown’s security Sheldrick Redwine.
Three games later, Hunt rumbled into the touchdown for his second touchdown of the game.
The score made NFL history. And the Browns obviously couldn’t have had a better start.
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