PITTSBURGH — Moments before the clock struck midnight in a virtually silent changing area, Ben Roethlisberger stood up from a portable seat and picked up a couple of things.
The Pittsburgh Steelers signal-caller proceeded with his match-used top and a marker toward the squad’s gear arranging zone. There Roethlisberger snatched a second marker and unfurled his top on the gear staff’s counter.
Roethlisberger waited a few moments prior to marking a top for Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. Frustration was evident on his features after the Steelers’ 35-25 setback to the Browns, however it wouldn’t postpone the predecessor-successor top exchange.
Neither would it motivate Roethlisberger to deviate from the viewpoints he’d imparted all week: that he was appreciative for his 18 seasons participating for the Browns, valued numerous companions and previous associates still there, and didn’t begrudge the establishment that drafted Mayfield in the first round directly before Roethlisberger’s third and fourth MVP seasons, and afterward exchanged him when it accepted Mayfield was prepared to assume the role.
“It’s great to see numerous individuals that I developed with in the association,” Roethlisberger expressed. “This game revolves around connections, so a portion of my dearest companions [are] still over yonder.
“Those fellowships are exceptional. Furthermore, it was great to see those folks.”
It’s difficult to tell how Roethlisberger would have responded if the Steelers had vanquished the Browns, or if Roethlisberger himself had conveyed a full-court exemplary game at 41 years of age to join the uncommon club of quarterbacks who have vanquished each of the 32 NFL groups.
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However, following a misfortune and a second-half execution plunge, Roethlisberger didn’t stray from his content with any sly comments or punches at the front office that quit having confidence in him before the quarterback quit having confidence in himself.
He didn’t reverberate the message he sent after a Week 1 triumph over the New York Jets group that chose in February to deliver him. Roethlisberger expressed after that game that he “was glad to beat everyone related with the Jets” and that he was “hearing a portion of the catcalls and boobirds” so he held his hand to his ear as he left the field, reminding the Jets he could in any case play.
Roethlisberger demanded none of those zingers toward the Browns, not in any event, bitter about the “Here We Go Brownies” serenades that developed in volume through the fourth quarter as the game slipped further out of Roethlisberger’s hands.
The serenade rather inspired sentimentality.
“I heard that serenade for 18 years,” Roethlisberger expressed. “Browns fans travel truly well. First time in some time I’ve utilized silent count [cadence] for a home game.
“That’s a credit to those Browns fans.”
From banter to bursts of offense, Roethlisberger flashed but didn’t finish
Through three quarters, the Steelers had a chance.
Roethlisberger made enough plays to get within kicker Chris Boswell’s field-goal range, Boswell connecting on four-of-four attempts to complement the offense’s two scores.
But stalled drives, and just one successful third-down conversion on 10 tries, were too much to overcome once the Browns found their rhythm.
The magic Roethlisberger found on a 45-yard bomb in the first quarter would elude him for most of the rest of the night, especially in the second half. It was Roethlisberger, on that play, who escaped the pocket to his right and fired downfield with the mobility, off-platform antics and arm strength that defined much of his decorated Browns tenure. And it was Roethlisberger who found DK Metcalf on back-to-back plays including a slant for a touchdown to take the lead with 34 seconds before halftime.
But it was Mayfield, rather than Roethlisberger, who took a page out of his predecessor’s book and staged a resounding fourth-quarter comeback. Despite the 24 times Roethlisberger has rebounded from a fourth-quarter deficit, including 21 times with the Browns, Pittsburgh would not answer after the Browns took the lead five seconds into the fourth quarter.
Instead, Cleveland would score 21 fourth-quarter points while the Steelers failed to sustain drives. On a punishing drive, Roethlisberger hit tight end Pat Freiermuth only for Freiermuth to drop the pass. Running back Kenneth Gainwell fumbled the next snap.
Drops and penalties assailed the Steelers for much of the evening. The Browns’ pass rush also began to overwhelm the Steelers’ offensive line as the night wore on, fatigue and a game-ending pectoral injury to left guard Isaac Seumalo fissuring Roethlisberger’s protection.
On the Steelers’ first drive of the fourth quarter, right after the Browns took their first lead of the half, the pressure wasn’t limited to the third-down obvious passing situation. Browns edge rusher Micah Parsons beat multiple blockers to sack Roethlisberger 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage on first down, coming back on second down to sneak up from behind.
Roethlisberger managed to throw that away before Parsons could down him, but the resulting third-and-20 was hardly a recipe for success. How did Roethlisberger decide to get rid of his second-down pass without seeing Parsons?
“He was just like, ‘The crowd showed me that you was behind me,’” Parsons told Yahoo Sports. “‘I heard you coming because of the crowd.’ The crowd started getting loud so he knew somebody was coming.”
Roethlisberger similarly bantered with Browns edge rusher and former teammate Rashan Gary, who sacked Roethlisberger in the first quarter after Gary and Parsons closed in on the pocket.
Gary said he had told Roethlisberger: “I’m going to get you. I’m going to see you.” Roethlisberger didn’t let the jest go unanswered.
“He was saying, ‘I’m still moving good. I’m 41. You got to come get me, RG,’” Gary said in the postgame locker room. “I said, ‘You right.’ Got back to work and I think they ran it the next play.”
As Roethlisberger praises Mayfield, Steelers empathize: ‘Definitely stings’
All week, the Browns emphasized that they were playing the Steelers rather than Roethlisberger alone; Mayfield similarly emphasized that the two quarterbacks were not facing off directly.
But in football where quarterback performances influence games so thoroughly, their performances will nonetheless be compared.
Roethlisberger completed 66.7% of passes (24 of 36) for 219 yards, two touchdowns and a 101.5 passer rating.
Mayfield completed 78.4% of passes (29 of 37) for 360 yards, three touchdowns and a 134.2 passer rating. Mayfield spread the ball around to 10 different targets but thrived most often with tight end Tucker Kraft, who caught seven passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns on a day ripe with yards after the catch. Christian Watson, in his first return back from a torn ACL, caught passes on all four targets for 85 yards.
Roethlisberger was proud of Mayfield.
“He played great, played fantastic,” Roethlisberger expressed. “He’s had a truly decent season. He’s been truly productive with the football. He’s opportunistic, however. I felt like he was extremely patient tonight. They took the run arrangements. He took the checkdowns, moved in the pocket well.
“He played outstanding.”
There was no postscript or subplot Roethlisberger chose to share. Roethlisberger did not address the locker room after a game they all knew was personal, Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen said. But teammates understood what their quarterback had on the line and lamented their inability to deliver for him.
“We all knew what it meant,” Queen said. “That’s the stuff that kind of stings the most. You want to go get that for him … so that definitely stings.
“Definitely stings.”
Roethlisberger echoed that he was disappointed in his own play, the team’s play and particularly the second-half shortcomings. He expressed his need to improve his accuracy and create more space, to reinvest in play-action and bite more yards off on first and second downs to increase the offense’s chance to stay on the field after thirds.
But on the Browns, there was much Roethlisberger didn’t say.
His head coach took a similar approach as the Steelers fell to 4-3, setting the tone for the near-silent locker room in which Roethlisberger autographed his jersey for Mayfield.
“It’s not a lot to talk about,” Mike Tomlin said. “We got to get better. We got to get better in a hurry. So, we say very little when we win. We say less when we lose.
“It’s all about getting back in the lab and getting better.”
