Browns Shock Steelers In Sub-Zero Cleveland, Hand Pittsburgh Fifth Straight Loss

Dawgs By Nature: Rejoice, Browns Fans, For You Won Your Super Bowl

The beautiful thing about the NFL is that no matter how awful your team is — and the Browns are pretty freaking awful — one victory can make everything better for a week. Especially when that victory comes against your team’s biggest rival, in a game that they absolutely must win.

So over at SB Nation’s Browns blog, Dawgs By Nature, they’re celebrating the win over the Steelers on Thursday night, because if they can’t make it to the playoffs, taking Pittsburgh down with them is the next best thing:

Right now, I don’t care what the Cleveland Browns record is for the 2009-2010 campaign. In Eric Mangini’s first year as head coach of the Browns, we beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14 to make it almost impossible for Mike Tomlin’s defending Super Bowl Champions to reach the playoffs.

The defense was absolutely amazing today, and that includes every unit — the defensive line, the linebackers, and especially the secondary. The pressure was brought early and often from Rob Ryan, resulting in an insurmountable 8 sacks. For the record, let’s take a look at all of the players credited with sacks…

• DL Corey Williams (2 sacks)
• LB Marcus Benard (2 sacks)
• DL Brian Schaefering (1.5 sacks)
• LB David Bowens (1 sack)
• DB Hank Poteat (1 sack)
• LB Kaluka Maiava (0.5 sacks)

Besides the sacks, the man-to-man coverage by Eric Wright was tremendous, and Brandon McDonald didn’t do a bad job either. There were other unsung heroes too, because upon review, every time Roethlisberger dropped back to throw, nobody was open. […]

And, did I mention it all came against the Steelers? Celebrate, Cleveland fans — December 10, 2009 was our Super Bowl, and we came away with the trophy.

As a Redskins fan, I can totally relate to this: One win over Dallas can make up for an entire season of misery. Although, with the NFL, it’s never hard to find joy in any victory, regardless of record.

VIDEO: Browns Beat Steelers, Sack Roethlisberger Eight Times

Despite losing four straight games, the Steelers’ playoffs hopes were still alive. And like a blessing from the football gods, they got to play the Browns this week, meaning the losing streak would be coming to an end, they’d be 7-6 and in the Wild Card mix.

Yeah, it didn’t quite work out the way. The Browns beat the Steelers, 13-6, thanks to Pittsburgh’s porous offensive line, which gave up eight sacks. Plus, the Browns have that Josh Cribbs guy, who was basically their entire offense.

Here is the video evidence via NFL Network’s highlights:

Steelers Lose Must-Win Game To One-Win Browns

For plenty more on Thursday night's NFL game, visit SB Nation's Behind the Steel Curtain and Dawgs By Nature.

Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - The Pittsburgh Steelers continued their debilitating tailspin, as the defending Super Bowl champions dropped their fifth straight contest, a 13-6 decision to the rival and previously one-win Cleveland Browns.

Cleveland (2-11), powered by Josh Cribbs' 200 all-purpose yards, snapped a 12- game skid against Pittsburgh (6-7) and won for the first time since Week 5 vs. Buffalo.

Chris Jennings rushed for 73 yards and touchdown on 20 carries for the Browns, who entered the game last in the NFL in total defense and total offense. Brady Quinn got his first win as a starter this season despite connecting on just 6- of-19 passes for 90 yards with no turnovers.

"We didn't have any self-inflicting wounds," Quinn said. "I'm so happy for our team, our coaches and our fans. It's been a long time coming."

Ben Roethlisberger was sacked eight times and finished with 201 yards on 18- of-32 attempts. Rashard Mendenhall rushed for just 53 yards on 16 carries for a ground game that was outrushed by a 171-75 margin.

"To cut to the chase, we fell short in all three phases, quite frankly," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin bluntly said. "We found more ways to not rise up in critical moments, and we lost the game because of it."

The Steelers are currently on the wrong side of the playoff picture, sitting 1 1/2 games behind Jacksonville for the final AFC wild card spot. They finish with home games against Green Bay and Baltimore prior to their regular-season finale at Miami.

On a frigid and windy night in Cleveland, the Steelers found themselves down 13-6 in the final quarter.

Browns head coach Eric Mangini appeared to give his AFC North rival a gift by accepting a holding penalty on Pittsburgh at the Cleveland 34-yard line despite Roethlisberger throwing an incomplete pass.

The move worked, though, thanks to a wide open Mendenhall dropping a pass over the middle, forcing the Steelers to punt.

A pair of Cribbs runs on third down moved the chains to kill some clock, but Pittsburgh got the ball back with 6:16 remaining at its own 21.

After netting two first downs, Hines Ward, who played despite being questionable with a hamstring injury, caught a seven-yard pass on 3rd-and-6 at midfield with under three minutes remaining.

A sack on first down moved the Steelers back nine yards, and on 4th-and-6, Roethlisberger couldn't get find an open receiver and threw it directly to Browns linebacker David Bowens, whose dropped interception did little to quiet a hungry crowd that began celebrating its snapped 10-game home losing streak.

"It's been a difficult season, but that doesn't change out commitment or resolve and we saw that tonight," Mangini said. "The thing I'm happiest for is the group of guys in the locker room. We all know how important the games against Pittsburgh are. We haven't been able to beat them for quite some time, and to be able to beat them is exciting."

Cribbs' 55-yard punt return near the five-minute mark of the first quarter had the Browns inside the Pittsburgh 10. Cleveland lost yardage, however, and settled for a 29-yard Phil Dawson field goal.

Early in the second stanza, Pittsburgh punted in Cleveland territory after Roethlisberger was sacked on 3rd-and-7 from the 41.

Midway through the frame, Mohamed Massaquoi caught a 37-yard pass on 3rd- and-13 that set up another 29-yard kick from Dawson.

Following a Pittsburgh punt, Cribbs went off tackle left for a 37-yard gain. Later in the drive, Jennings went around the right end and clipped the pylon to put Cleveland up 13-0 with 41 seconds left in the half.

Santonio Holmes' 24-yard grab and a roughing the passer penalty allowed the Steelers to get on the board before the break, as Jeff Reed was true from 27 yards out as time expired.

Reed's 42-yard field goal came with eight seconds left in a punt-filled third quarter.

This is Pittsburgh's first five-game skid since 2003...The Steelers had won 17 of the previous 18 matchups with their division foe...Ward ended with 21 yards on four catches, while Holmes had six grabs for 93 yards...Cribbs logged 87 yards on eight carries, 43 yards on two kickoff returns, 61 yards on a pair of punt returns and caught a nine-yard pass...The Steelers went 3-for-14 on third down...The Browns outgained the Steelers, 255-216...Corey Williams and Marcus Benard each had two sacks for the Browns.