Deshaun who?
Jacoby Brissett didn’t play like a backup quarterback who is a short-time fill-in. On Thursday Night Football, Brissett starred, leading the Browns to a 29-17 victory over the Steelers.
Brissett, who is starting while Deshaun Watson serves his 11-game suspension, completed 21 of 31 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns.
The Browns had no trouble moving the ball against the T.J. Watt-less Steelers, rolling to 376 yards. Cleveland’s offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage as Nick Chubb rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, while Kareem Hunt added 47 yards on 12 carries.
Amari Cooper caught seven passes for 101 yards and a touchdown, and David Njoku made nine catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.
Browns fans, who haven’t gotten over the collapse by their team last week, watched as the Steelers went 63 yards in seven plays, using up only 1:25. Chris Boswell’s 34-yard field goal drew the Steelers to within 23-17 with 1:48 left.
But George Pickens was offsides on Boswell’s onside kick, which went out of bounds after the Browns didn’t cleanly field it a second consecutive week. The Steelers, with only one timeout remaining, stopped the Browns and forced a punt. They got the ball back at the Cleveland 4-yard line with nine seconds left.
The Browns tacked on a touchdown on the final play as Denzel Ward recovered the ball in the end zone as the Steelers’ two laterals took them backward.
Mitch Trubisky was 20-of-32 for 207 yards and, with the Steelers 1-2, surely will hear calls for Kenny Pickett to start next week.