Oct
19
Written by:
LarryMac
10/19/2009 11:10 AM
Derek Anderson made a quantum leap from last week's 2-for-17 performance, going 9-for-24 for 122 yards an a touchdown and Joshua Cribbs returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown but it still wasn't nearly enough against the defending World Champion Steelers.
Ben Roethlisberger completed 23-of-35 passes for 417 yards (fourth highest in Steelers history) and Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes both topped the 100 yard mark as the Steelers overcame four turnovers to defeat the Browns for the 12th straight time.
The teams traded punts in the first quarter until Roethlisberger fumbled the ball at the Pittsburgh 42. The Browns went with a wildcat formation on the ensuing possession and a few plays later Josh Cribbs was intercepted by Troy Polamalu, back after missing four weeks with a knee injury.
The ensuing possession went into the beginning of the second quarter, when Roethlisberger found Heath Miller for an 8 yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. After a Browns punt on their next series, Roethlisberger and Ward connected for a 52 yard strike and it was 14-0. Cribbs returned the ensuing kickoff to cut the lead in half. A questionable first down call by the officials then set the Steelers up for a 32 yard field goal and a 17-7 halftime lead.
On the first series of the second half, Derek Anderson found Lawrence Vickers for a touchdown to cut the Steelers' lead to 17-14 but six plays and a two yard run by Rashard Mendenhall later, it was 24-14.
In the fourth, Pittsburgh would add another field goal and the Browns would make it as far as the Pittsburgh 31 before Anderson was intercepted on a long pass to Mohamed Massaquoi, allowing Pittsburgh to run out the clock.
The Good: Josh Cribbs continues to do everything he can to help this team win. His kick return was the franchise record eighth of his career.
The Bad: Browns receivers continue to drop balls. After dropping eight against Buffalo, they recorded another half-dozen in this game.
The Ugly: EIGHT turnovers between the two teams in the game. It's pretty hard to turn the ball over four times and win a game...unless, of course, the other team turns it over four times as well. How bad was it? The third quarter ended with four turnovers (two each) over a span of nine plays.
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