Szmyt’s 56-yarder lifts Browns past Steelers

A kick at the edge

Andre Szmyt’s 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left gave the Cleveland Browns a 27-24 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, October 1. The kick ended a finish in which Pittsburgh had erased a 14-point deficit, tied the game with 1:42 remaining and briefly pushed Cleveland to the brink on its final possession.

Cleveland began that last drive at its own 26 with 1:36 left. Deshaun Watson found Harold Fannin for 12 yards at midfield with 1:00 to play, a completion that lifted the Browns’ win probability from 54.2% to 74.2%. A sack at the Pittsburgh 38 then pulled that figure back to 65.6%, but Szmyt drove the next kick through.

The field goal was the game’s defining swing. Cleveland’s win probability rose from 50.4% before the snap to 99.4% after it, while Pittsburgh fell to 0.6%. The Browns had been as low as 25.2% in win probability, making the final 1:26 drive the answer to a game they had nearly allowed to slip away.

Cleveland’s second-quarter answer

Pittsburgh controlled the opening quarter with a 20-play, 78-yard touchdown drive that consumed 9:48 and ended with Aaron Rodgers’ 12-yard touchdown pass. But after the Steelers’ next possession ended in an interception, Cleveland answered fast and forcefully.

The Browns needed four plays and 1:57 to level the score at 7-7 on a 28-yard touchdown run. Their next scoring march turned on Watson’s 60-yard completion to Denzel Boston, setting up Quinshon Judkins’ two-yard touchdown for a 14-7 lead. That sequence gave Cleveland a lead it would hold until Pittsburgh’s final fourth-quarter push.

Cleveland made it 21-7 with a 13-play, 70-yard drive that took 3:59 and ended on Watson’s two-yard scoring pass to Fannin. Pittsburgh got a 31-yard field goal with eight seconds left in the half, but the Browns had turned an early seven-point hole into a 21-10 halftime advantage.

The numbers show why Cleveland’s second-quarter burst mattered. The Browns produced 0.08 EPA per play, compared with Pittsburgh’s minus-0.01; EPA per play measures how much a play adds to a team’s expected points. Cleveland’s passing game was especially productive at 0.29 EPA per play, even though its rushing attack sat at minus-0.22.

Watson completed 24 of 33 passes for 268 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Boston caught four passes for 89 yards, with the 60-yarder creating the field position for Judkins’ score. Judkins had 17 carries for 53 yards and a touchdown, but Cleveland’s most efficient work came through Watson’s throws rather than its ground game.

Steelers rally, Browns hold on

The third quarter became a turnover-and-punt stalemate. Cleveland lost a fumble after driving 46 yards, then Watson threw an interception on the Browns’ next possession. Pittsburgh could not capitalize on either chance, managing only five yards on the possession that began at midfield after the fumble.

Rodgers finally broke through early in the fourth. His 21-yard touchdown pass cut the score to 21-16, though the two-point try failed. After Cleveland answered with Szmyt’s 44-yard field goal, Pittsburgh went 80 yards in 10 plays and 1:50, tying it 24-24 on Rodgers’ three-yard touchdown pass with 1:42 left; Rodgers then ran in the two-point conversion.

Rodgers finished 22 of 40 for 299 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. His 43-yard completion to DK Metcalf helped fuel the fourth-quarter comeback, and Metcalf finished with five catches for 115 yards. Jaylen Warren added 93 yards on 17 carries, but Pittsburgh’s rushing offense posted minus-0.16 EPA per play.

Pittsburgh ran 62 plays to Cleveland’s 59 and gained 391 combined passing and rushing yards to Cleveland’s 380. Yet the Browns posted a 49% success rate against 45% for the Steelers; success rate is the share of plays that produce positive EPA. Cleveland also took only two sacks, while Pittsburgh took five, a difference that repeatedly stalled Pittsburgh outside its best explosive moments.

The Browns leave Huntington Bank Field at 3-1, while the Steelers fall to 2-2. The next opponents for both teams were not listed in the game facts, but Cleveland’s final drive and Szmyt’s long kick supplied the immediate difference in the standings.