Article published November 12, 2007
Time not on Browns' side
Browns kicker Phil Dawson and holder Dave Zastudil walk off the field after Dawson's 52-yard attempt fell short.
(
ASSOCIATED PRESS
)
|
By DAVE HACKENBERG
BLADE SPORTS COLUMNIST
PITTSBURGH - Clock management became an issue for the Cleveland Browns late in yesterday's 31-28 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and certainly handcuffed the visitors in their final drive for a game-tying field goal attempt.
Cleveland lost two of its three second-half timeouts with 3:13 to play after Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit tight end Heath Miller with a two-yard touchdown pass to retake the lead.
The Browns, questioning whether Miller had controlled the ball before hitting the ground, called time before the Steelers could attempt the extra point.
"I'm not exactly sure what happened, but a timeout was called on the field," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said. "Some guys on the field thought that we needed to get the timeout called. Then I followed it up with the challenge. Whether I was convinced or not [that the challenge was merited] some people were convinced, so I challenged it. We lost the challenge, so it ended up costing us two timeouts. That's what happened. It hurt us toward the end of the game. What else can I tell you? Put it on me."
Cleveland used its last timeout with 2:38 to play and got the ball for its final drive with 1:04 left. Quarterback Derek Anderson drove his team to the Pittsburgh 35, but spiked the ball on third-and-seven, after a three-yard pass to Joe Jurevicius, stopping the clock with 10 seconds left.
"We might have tried to wing another play, but Joe got hurt on that last catch," said Anderson, who had three touchdown passes in the first half. "He's yelling, 'I can't go, I can't go.' I couldn't run a play with an injured receiver. I was forced to [spike] it. I knew it would be fourth down and I feel bad for [kicker] Phil Dawson that we had to put him in that situation, a 52-yard try into the wind."Dawson's bid to tie the score was true, but fell just short of the crossbar.
BIG BEN: Roethlisberger had a so-so first half and threw an interception that Cleveland turned into a touchdown en route to building a 21-9 halftime lead, but the Pittsburgh QB bounced back in the second half with two touchdown passes and a career-long 30-yard run for a score.
He extended his own team record with at least one touchdown pass in 14 straight games and notched a career high - with seven games to go - with 22 touchdown passes on the year.
"It was a big win for us," the Findlay product said. "It was a first-place game. We didn't want to have to be tied with the Browns for first. We didn't play well in the first half. We were kind of flat and had some miscommunication between me and the receivers. We came in at halftime, and we had to buckle down."
Roethlisberger completed 23 of 34 passes for 278 yards. He compiled a passer rating of 99.9 after being at 53.1 at halftime.
"The Steelers did a nice job of fighting back, of never giving up [on] themselves," Crennel said. "Roethlisberger made a lot of big plays for them. We couldn't tackle him."
LATE HITS: The Browns' opening drive of 16 plays was their longest in more than two years, since the 2005 season. … Anderson's three first-half TD passes bumped him to 20 on the season. … Pittsburgh had a shot at a TD just before halftime, driving to the Cleveland 5, but Roethlisberger was sacked on third down by Antwan Peek, forcing the Steelers to settle for Jeff Reed's third field goal of the half. … Roethlisberger was sacked four times for 36 yards in losses. … Cleveland was 5-of-6 on third-down conversions in the first half, 0-for-6 in the second half. … Toledoan Nate Washington (Scott) had four catches for 56 yards for the Steelers … Pittsburgh swept the season series against the Browns for the fourth straight year. The Steelers won the season opener in Cleveland 34-7 … With Joshua Cribbs' 204 yards in kickoff returns, the Browns had only 163 net yards of offense, 48 in the second half … The Steelers' Willie Parker had his sixth 100-yard game of the year, carrying 25 times for 105 yards.
Permanent Link
|
|
 |
|
Search
advertisement
