NFL Old School Game of the Week: Steelers Rally From 15 Points Down to Beat Browns in Battle for 1st Place

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would throw for 278 yards and two touchdowns while running for 49 yards and one touchdown.

 In Week 10 of the 2007 NFL Season, the Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the Cleveland Browns in a key AFC North showdown where the winner would assume first place in the division.

The Steelers came into the game with a 6-2 record under first-year head coach Mike Tomlin who had taken over after Bill Cowher stepped down following his 15-year stint as the Pittsburgh head coach which included only three losing seasons and a Super Bowl championship following the 2005 season.

On the field, the Steelers were led by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who was in his fourth year at the controls of the Pittsburgh offense which featured running back Willie Parker and wide receiver Hines Ward who was the Super Bowl MVP following the Steelers' 21-10 win in Super Bowl  XL.

The Steelers were hoping to return the postseason after missing out the year before with a 8-8 record and a win over the Browns would go a long way in accomplishing that goal.

Meanwhile, the Browns came into their game with the Steelers with a 5-3 record under head coach Romeo Crennel, who was in his third season as the Cleveland head coach after serving as defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots for their three Super Bowl wins in a four-year span from 2001 through 2004.

The Browns' starting quarterback was a unlikely one in Derek Anderson, who was seen as the odd man out during the preseason as the competition was between Charlie Fyre and 2007 first-round pick Brady Quinn.

However, Fyre was yanked midway through the second quarter of the Browns' 34-7 loss to the Steelers in Week 1 after he was replaced by Anderson who would become the Cleveland starter as Fyre was traded to the Seattle Seahawks.

Anderson would reward Crennel and the Browns with a 328-yard and five touchdown performance in a 51-45 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in week 2(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2022/10/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-browns.html)as Cleveland would go to Heinz Field with a chance to take over 1st place in the AFC North division.

  After the Steelers went three-and-out to start the game, the Browns would get the ball at their 29-yard-line as Cleveland would hold the ball for nearly nine minutes as they drove 71 yards in 16 plays, culminating with a four-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Kellen Winslow Jr.

Anderson completed seven of 10 passes for 56 yards on the drive with four of those completions going to Winslow for 33 yards as the Browns took a 7-0 lead with 4:10 left in the first quarter.

The Steelers would begin their next possession at their 38-yard-line as Roethlisberger completed a 15-yard pass to Hines Ward, then threw a three-yard pass to Parker, before handing the ball off to "Fast Willie" who ran for 31 yards to give Pittsburgh a 1st down at the Browns' 13-yard-line.

However, the drive would stall as two incomplete passes and a three-yard run by Parker would lead to a 28-yard field goal by Jeff Reed to make it a 7-3 game with 93 seconds remaining in the opening period.

It did not take long for the Browns to respond as Josh Cribbs returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to the Pittsburgh three-yard-line to set up Anderson's two-yard touchdown pass to fullback Lawrence Vickers on the opening play of the second quarter to increase the Cleveland lead to 14-3.

Browns quarterback Derek Anderson would throw for only 123 yards but threw three touchdown passes.

The Steelers would then drive 55 yards in nine plays to set up a 35-yard field goal by Reed which cut the Browns' lead to 14-6 as the Pittsburgh defense would force a Cleveland punt to give their offense the ball at their 13-yard-line.

That is when Roethlisberger was intercepted by Cleveland free safety Bradley Pool on a pass intended for Santonio Holmes to give the Browns the ball at the Steelers' 18-yard-line.

Cleveland would almost give it right back to the Steelers as running back Jamal Lewis fumbled the football after a hit by Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison only for center Hank Fraley to fall on the football, allowing the Browns to retain possession as two plays later, Anderson would find Braylon Edwards for a 16-yard touchdown to push the Browns' lead to 21-6 with 5:24 left in the first half

The Steelers would get the ball back at their 31-yard-line as Roethlisberger would hit Ward for a 12-yard completion on 3rd & 10, then connected with Nate Washington for 17 yards on another 3rd & 10 to put Pittsburgh at the Cleveland 30-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.

From there, the Steelers would drive to the Clevleand five-yard-line until a quarterback sack by Browns linebacker Antwan Peek on 3rd & goal would force Pittsburgh to settle for another Reed field goal, this one from 30 yards out to trim the deficit to 21-9 as the first half came to a close.

The two teams would trade punts until midway through the third quarter when Harrison stripped Lewis of the ball leading to a recovery by cornerback Ike Taylor to give the Steelers the ball at the Browns' 38-yard-line.

Roethlisberger would hit Ward for 19 yards to start the drive then after two plays netted seven yards, Big Ben would connect with Ward again, this time for a 12-yard touchdown to make it an one possession game at 21-16 with 6:14 remaining in the third quarter.

The two teams would again trade punts as the game moved into the fourth quarter when the Steelers drove from their 34-yard-line to the Cleveland 30-yard-line thanks to passes of 18 yards to Ward and 16 yards to Washington.

But two incomplete passes would bring up 3rd & 10 when Roethlisberger scrambled up the middle and ran it in for a 30-yard touchdown that with Big Ben's two-point pass to Ward gave the Steelers their first lead of the game at 24-21 with 11:32 left in regulation.

However, the lead would only last 18 seconds as Cribbs made a spectcular return for a touchdown as he picked up the ball near the goal line, dodged four Steeler tacklers inside the five-yard-line, then stayed in bounds following another tackle attempt at the 15-yard-line to run it back 100 yards and give Cleveland a 28-24 lead.

The Steelers would start their next possession at their 22-yard-line as two runs by Parker gained four yards to set up 3rd & 6 when Roethlisberger found Holmes for 18 yards for a 1st down at the Pittsburgh 44-yard-line as the two would connect again on the very next play, this time for 15 yards and another fresh set of downs at the Cleveland 41-yard-line.

Four plays later, the Steelers were faced with a 3rd & 18 at the Browns' 33-yard-line when Roethlisberger found tight end Heath Miller for 20 yards to give Pittsburgh a 1st down at the 13-yard-line.

Two runs by Parker gained only one yard to set up 3rd & 9 when Big Ben used his legs again as he ran for 10 yards to give the Steelers a 1st & goal at the two-yard-line as Najah Davenport was stopped for no gain to bring up 2nd & goal.

That is when Roethlisberger would find Miller in the end zone for a two-yard touchdown to cap off the 14-play, 78-yard drive which took over eight minutes to complete and more importantly give the Steelrs a 31-28 lead with 3:13 left in regulation.

The Steelers' defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball at their 11-yard-line with 2:42 remaining and a chance to run out the clock only for the Clevleand defense force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball at their 33-yard-line with 64 seconds left and a chance to tie the game.

After an incomplete pass to start the drive, Anderson would hit Joe Jurevicius for 16 yards and a 1st down at the Cleveland 49-yard-line as Anderson would spike the ball to stop the clock with 38 seconds left.

A 13-yard pass to Winslow and another spike would put the Browns at the Steelers' 38-yard-line when Anderson completed a three-yard pass to Jurevicius who was tackled in bounds, leading to one more quarterback spike as the Browns were faced with a 4th & 7 at the Steelers' 35-yard-line with 10 seconds remaining.

Crennel would send the field goal unit in to tie the game as Phil Dawson would attempt a 52-yard field goal that would send the game into overtime.

Dawson's kick was on target but it fell short of the goal posts and no good, allowing the Steelers to run out the clock and come away with the 31-28 win.

Steelers tight end Heath Miller would catch the game-winning touchdown pass.

The narrow defeat would come back to haunt the Browns as they would finish the season with a 10-6 record but would miss the playoffs as they lost the head-to-head tiebreaker for the AFC North with the Steelers and would lose a tiebreaker with the Tennessee Titans for the last Wild Card spot as the Titans had a better record against common opponents than the Browns(Tennessee 4-1 Cleveland 3-2).

As for the Steelers, they would go on to clinch the AFC North division title and host a Wild Card game, but would be eliminated by the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-29 as a 32-yard run by Jaguars quarterback David Garrard on 4th & 2 would set up the game-winning 25-yard field goal by Josh Scobee.

The Steelers would rebound the following year as they would win their sixth Super Bowl title.