Baltimore redux

Remember that drubbing the Browns absorbed in the season opener in Baltimore? That 38-6 thrashing? Well, it happened again Sunday in Pittsburgh. Different venue, same result.

Actually, the Browns were a point better in this one. Cody Parkey did not miss the extra point after Rashard Higgins' touchdown catch with a minute left in the first half like Austin Seibert did in Baltimore.

The Steelers' 38-7 victory was so complete on both sides of the football, the Browns would best benefit by taking it as a learning experience in how to play winning football. Study the game film and watch how it's done.

The vaunted Cleveland offense, the one that had scored 30 or more points in four consecutive victories, did not show up. Correction: The offense showed up, but it was de-vaunted by the vaunted Pittsburgh defense.

The afternoon saw the Steelers wallop the Browns in the trenches for 60 excruciatingly agonizing minutes. The offense staggered throughout. It got so bad, head coach Kevin Stefanski waved the flag of surrender and dismissed quarterback Baker Mayfield with a quarter to go.

Before he left, Mayfield threw two more interceptions -- a third was wiped out by a Pittsburgh penalty -- and looked even more uncertain than usual as the offense did not have a chance against a superior Steelers defense. He set the tone for the afternoon with his first pass of the day.

He completed it to Pittsburgh cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick, who stepped in front of rookie tight end Harrison Bryant running a short curl route and, catching it in stride, bolted 33 yards for the pick six. 

James Conner, running strong all afternoon (101 yards on 20 carries), made it 17-0 with a three-yard run with 10:28 left in the second quarter. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had completed five straight passes that chewed up 56 yards to set it up.

At that point, I wrote BALL GAME on my play-by-play sheet. There was no way the Browns came to compete on this day. Pittsburgh willed this victory as much as anything. Just about everything the Browns tried failed, although they managed to get to the right ballpark.

Made no difference on which side of the football, this was truly a team loss. They were outhustled, outmuscled, outcoached, outeverythinged. Don't bother looking it up.

Touchdowns by wide receiver James Washington, hauling in Big Ben's only scoring pass of the day in the second quarter following a Cameron Sutton pick, and backup running back Benny Snell midway through the fourth quarter served merely as window dressing.

Roethlisberger, who must salivate every time he sees Cleveland on the schedule, improved his career record against them to 24-2-1. He remained unbeaten in 13 home starts against the Browns, who haven't won in the Steel City since 2003.

Case Keenum arrived on the scene for the first time this season and fared no better than Mayfield. That's because the well-coached Pittsburgh defense -- the underrated Keith Butler is their coordinator -- more than lived up to its reputation as one of the best in the National Football League.

The Browns' offensive and defensive lines were pushed all over the field, beaten off the snap time and again. It became ridiculous in the second half when the Cleveland offense unbelievably turned the ball over on downs on three consecutive possessions, the Steelers scoring touchdowns on the first two.

Stefanski is in line for a major portion of the criticism for an offensive gane plan that fed directly into what the Steelers were doing on defense. It was almost as though Butler was reading Stefanski's mind.

The Cleveland offense, meandering all day in a desert of ineptitude, converted only one third down in 12 attempts, a five-yard screen pass to running back Kareem Hunt with two minutes left in the first half en route to the Higgins score,

A fourth-down call with six minutes left in the third quarter and the Browns trailing, 24-7, served as a microcosm of the frustration Browns fans must have felt at the time. It was easily Stefanski's most egregious mistake and he can soon expect a thank-you card from the Steelers

A short Jarvis Landry reception on third and four at the Browns' 26, initially ruled incomplete, was overturned by replay and the ball was placed a foot away from a first down at the Cleveland 29. Think about that. Fourth and a foot at YOUR 29 and the Steelers' defense winning practically every snap.

Where is punter Jamie Gillan? Common sense says a punt is in order, if for no other reason than to make the Pittsburgh offense start as far away from your goal line as possible. Especially when your offense is operating at zero efficiency.

What to do, what to do. Stefanski did not hesitate. He called a dive play with Hunt -- it was definitely a Nick Chubb moment, but he was unavailable -- searching for the one foot up the gut. Up the damn gut. Hunt is a slasher, not a mauler. Surely, there had to be a better play. It's the kind of play on which the rugged Pittsburgh defense thrives. It was a classic what-was-he-thinking moment. 

A gnat would not have been able to find anything resembling a hole a split second after the snap as Cameron Heyward and T. J. Watt swallowed Hunt whole one yard behind the line of scrimmage. Seven plays later, rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool took a short handoff and scooted three yards for the score.

Fortunately, it counts as only one loss -- that's the way Stefanski will probably approach it -- but it sure seemed like a lot more. The unbeaten Steelers, in winning their fifth straight game, showed the Browns they don't belong on the same field. The difference is that cavernous.

This one was easily one of their worst losses in this 137-game series in what used to be one of the NFL's greatest rivalries and showed just how far they have to go to become relevant again in the league.

The four-game winning streak was nice. Enjoyed by all for sure. It's ancient history now and showed the Browns, who had to be thinking pretty good about themselves entering this one that there are many lessons that need to be learned before entertaining any future thoughts of grandiosity. They were genuinely embarrassed.

Two more games before the bye -- at Cincinnati next Sunday and a home visit from the Las Vegas Raiders two Sundays from now -- should seem quite a but easier than what the Browns had to deal with in Pittsburgh. They still have quite a ways to go to play at least equally with the big boys.