PITTSBURGH — The Cleveland Browns trail the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-6 at halftime Sunday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium after a first half marked by two turnovers, offensive penalties, and an inability to finish drives.
Cleveland's troubles began on its opening possession when Deshaun Watson briefly left the game for a concussion evaluation following a hit that drew a roughing-the-passer penalty. Backup Shedeur Sanders entered, but the drive ended when Harold Fannin Jr. lost a fumble. Pittsburgh failed to capitalize, however, when Chris Boswell missed a 57-yard field-goal attempt.
Watson returned on Cleveland's next possession but fumbled on a sack, with the Steelers recovering at the Browns' 45-yard line. Pittsburgh took advantage this time, scoring on a nine-yard touchdown run by Rico Dowdle to take a 7-0 lead.
The Steelers extended their advantage to 10-0 early in the second quarter on a 20-yard Boswell field goal after a 51-yard run by Jaylen Warren helped move Pittsburgh deep into Cleveland territory.
The Browns eventually found some success moving the football with Watson hooking up with Harold Fannin Jr for a couple of nice throws. However, Cleveland settled for field goals of 32 and 49 yards from Andre Szmyt, while Pittsburgh added another Boswell field goal from 37 yards.
Cleveland appeared headed into halftime trailing by just seven points after Szmyt's second field goal cut Pittsburgh's lead to 13-6. Instead, the Steelers drove 69 yards in only 44 seconds, with Pat Freiermuth scoring on a one-yard direct snap with five seconds remaining.
The Browns have shown they can move the football, but turnovers, penalties, and protection problems have repeatedly stalled their offense as the offense starts slow yet again.
