CLEVELAND – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Jacoby Brissett passed for 220 yards and two touchdowns to help the Cleveland Browns record a 29-17 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday night.
Browns running back Nick Chubb rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns and Amari Cooper had 101 yards and one score on seven catches for the Browns (2-1). Cleveland’s David Njoku had nine receptions for 89 yards and one touchdown.
Mitchell Trubisky passed for 207 yards and rushed for a touchdown for the Steelers (1-2), who lost their second straight game. Pittsburgh’s Najee Harris rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Brissett made his third start of the season in place of Deshaun Watson, who is serving an 11-game suspension for alleged sexual misconduct involving massage therapists. The fill-in QB helped the Browns play turnover-free football while outgaining Pittsburgh 376 yards to 308.
Trubisky completed 20 of 32 passes in his third start after the offseason retirement of Ben Roethlisberger.
Cleveland moved ahead 16-14 on Cade York’s 34-yard field goal with 2:31 left in the third quarter.
The next time the Browns had the ball, they moved 80 yards on 11 plays with Chubb scoring from the 1 to make it a nine-point margin with 9:29 remaining in the game.
Chris Boswell kicked a 34-yard field goal with 1:48 left to bring Pittsburgh within 23-17. The ensuing onside kick went out of bounds.
The Steelers got the ball back for one final play that included laterals. Harris eventually fumbled the ball, and Cleveland’s Denzel Ward recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.
The Browns struck first on Brissett’s 11-yard scoring pass to Cooper with 2:54 left in the opening quarter. The Steelers tied the score on Harris’ 5-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.
Cleveland moved ahead 13-7 on Brissett’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Njoku with 8:58 left, but Ward’s point-after clanked off the right upright. Trubisky scored on a 1-yard keeper with 3:50 left to put Pittsburgh ahead.
Browns linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. was carted off the field due to a left knee injury in the third quarter.
–Field Level Media