Steelers vs. Browns: Highlights, game tracker and more

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns face off in NFL Week 1 at FirstEnergy Stadium, and here are the highlights from the game.

When you look at the prognostication for the 2017 season, the fortunes of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns appear to be on two separate ends of the spectrum. The Steelers are seen by many as potential Super Bowl contenders. However, the Browns look to again be eyeing a top draft pick. With that said, things could play out much differently early in the season than it might seem.

Things, however, didn’t start off promising at all for the Browns. Their first drive ultimately ended quickly and the set up to punt. With Cleveland backed up, Pittsburgh brought pressure to try and stop them up. They were successful in doing so as they blocked it and were able to score as they recovered the loose ball in the end zone.

To the credit of the Browns, they didn’t seem too overly affected by the special teams mishap. DeShone Kizer pieced together a nice drive, anchored by some quick passes, and was able to notch his first career touchdown with a one-yard touchdown run to even things up.

Things were tight from that point on throughout the rest of the first half. However, the Steelers were able to break through just before the midway respite. Starting with a long play made by Antonio Brown, they got good field position and got into the end zone again to take a 14-7 lead at halftime.

The Steelers then allowed their winning margin to further narrow to open up the half thanks to a Browns field goal on a solid drive. However, Ben Roethlisberger continued to feed Antonio Brown and that combo remained fruitful. As such, they were able to control the game. With that said, their score came via rookie T.J. Watt coming up big with an interception that led to a nice drive.

As I thought they would, the Browns kept things close. With that being said, their late touchdown and two-point conversion ultimately left them falling short as they fell in the opener, 21-18. Even still, it was a nice showing even in a loss.

Highlights

Next: NFL 2017: 20 Bold predictions for Week 1

This matchup seems like an overall mismatch. However, the Browns are not a team to sleep on and there are questions about the Steelers entering the year. As such, this game could be much closer than people might think.