Jaylen Warren ran for 143 yards and a touchdown on his 28th birthday, and the Steelers beat the Browns 27-6 on Sunday to move into first place in the AFC North, ESPN reported. ESPN says the 143 yards tied a career high. Per Behind the Steel Curtain, it was Pittsburgh's 23rd consecutive regular-season home win over Cleveland.
The box score shows how lopsided it was. Warren carried 17 times at 8.4 yards a carry, with a long of 51. Rico Dowdle added 56 yards and a touchdown, and Pat Freiermuth scored on a one-yard run. Pittsburgh ran for 200 yards at 6.1 per carry. Cleveland ran for 34 on 15 carries. Pittsburgh got 14 of its 21 first downs on the ground, and Cleveland got one of 17. Aaron Rodgers was not needed much: he went 13 of 25 for 172 yards with no touchdowns and an interception.
The Steelers' defense set the tone early. Behind the Steel Curtain and Dawgs By Nature both say Cleveland turned the ball over on its first two drives. Pittsburgh recovered fumbles on both, and the box score credits Deshaun Watson and Harold Fannin Jr. with a lost fumble each. Yahoo's headline and Behind the Steel Curtain both put the sack count at eight, and the box agrees: 8 for 41 yards. T.J. Watt had two. Patrick Queen and Cameron Heyward each had 1.5. Yahoo's report card credits coordinator Patrick Graham's defense with dominating Watson.
The raw passing numbers look better than the game felt. Watson went 27 of 39 for 324 yards with no touchdowns, and Fannin caught 10 passes for 154. But Cleveland went 0 for 3 in the red zone and 0 for 2 on fourth down. Its only points were two Andre Szmyt field goals. Nine penalties for 85 yards did not help. Dawgs By Nature's Jared Mueller called it a replay of the Week 1 loss, and Chris Pokorny's recap said it "certainly wasn't Cleveland's day."
Warren has been a steady part of the Steelers' offense. Our season table has him at 561 rushing yards on 102 carries, 5.5 a carry, in his first seven games. The Steelers are 6-2 and have won four straight, following one-score wins at Tampa Bay (26-19) and New Orleans (16-10). Sunday was their most comfortable win of the run.
| Team | W | L | PCT | Home | Away | Strk | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 2 | .750 | 4-0-0 | 2-2-0 | W4 | +36 | |
| 5 | 2 | .714 | 2-1-0 | 3-1-0 | W3 | +48 | |
| 5 | 3 | .625 | 3-0-0 | 2-3-0 | L1 | -34 | |
| 4 | 4 | .500 | 1-2-0 | 3-2-0 | L3 | -24 |
The standings show the race is still tight. Cincinnati is 5-2, half a game back, and Pittsburgh visits the Bengals on Nov. 15. The Browns are 5-3, one game back and third in the division. Their run differential is minus 34, the worst of the division's top three. They had won two in a row, 13-10 over Baltimore and 27-24 at Tennessee, before this game. They play at New Orleans next on Nov. 8.
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