Steelers vs. Browns, Week 8: 1st quarter in-game update

The Pittsburgh Steelers entered Week 8 coming off a bye week, and sporting a 3-2-1 record. Their opponent Sunday at Heinz Field? The 2-4-1 Cleveland Browns.

These two AFC North rivals meet for the second, and likely last, time this season, and everyone is thinking about the Week 1 game where the Steelers turned the football over numerous times, and resulted in an ugly tie. Heading into this contest, these two teams were certainly headed in different directions. Pittsburgh had won back-to-back games over the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals, but the Browns were losers of their last two against the Los Angeles Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

However, with both teams searching for another win, it was Mayfield and the Browns’ offense who would start with the football to get the game underway. Mayfield moved the Cleveland offense down the field with ease, but on 3rd and 3 in the red-zone Pittsburgh was able to stop the Cleveland offense and force a field goal attempt. The kick was good, giving the Browns an early 3-0 lead.

On Pittsburgh’s second offensive possession, on third down Ben Roethlisberger attempted to hit JuJu Smith-Schuster for a first down, but the ball was deflected off Smith-Schuster’s hands and intercepted by the Browns. Nick Chubb then took over and moved the ball quickly into Pittsburgh territory with two big gains on the ground. Nonetheless, the Browns’ drive stalled and turned into another field goal attempt by Greg Joseph. The 45-yard kick was good, giving the Browns a 6-0 lead with 2:34 left in the opening quarter.

After the first quarter, the Steelers had yet to even get a first down on offense, and the Browns had the ball heading into the second quarter.