Szmyt's 56-Yarder Sinks Steelers as Browns Take AFC North Lead
Cleveland survived a furious Pittsburgh comeback on Thursday night, winning 27-24 on Andre Szmyt's 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left.
The AFC North has a new front-runner. The Browns beat the Steelers 27-24 on Thursday night in Cleveland, improving to 3-1 and taking first place in the division while dropping Pittsburgh to 2-2 — and it took a 56-yard field goal from Andre Szmyt with 10 seconds left to do it.
How it unfolded
Pittsburgh scripted a clean opening: Aaron Rodgers found Roman Wilson for a 12-yard touchdown on the first drive. Then the game flipped. Cleveland ripped off three second-quarter touchdowns — a 28-yard Jaleel McLaughlin run, a 2-yard Quinshon Judkins plunge and a 2-yard toss to tight end Harold Fannin Jr. — outscoring the Steelers 21-3 over a 12:15 stretch, by Pittsburgh's own accounting.
Rodgers kept Pittsburgh alive anyway. He finished 22-of-40 for 299 yards with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, hitting Darnell Washington from 21 yards and then Pat Freiermuth from 3 before sneaking in the two-point conversion himself to tie it at 24 with 1:42 to play.
The last word belonged to Cleveland's defense and its kicker. Grant Delpit intercepted Rodgers' deep shot for Wilson, and Szmyt — who had earlier hit from 44 — drilled the 56-yarder to win it.
What it means
For the Browns, this is the kind of win that reframes a season: a division game closed out by the defense (Delpit's pick, plus an earlier Denzel Ward interception) and a kicker who delivered from distance twice in the fourth quarter. For the Steelers, the offense did enough to win on the road and the defense didn't. "In those weighty moments, we've got to have better execution," Cameron Heyward said, per the Steelers' site — a fair summary of a night Pittsburgh allowed 27 points to a division rival and left with nothing.