The Buckeyes beat the Spartans 17-16, but didn't look like the No. 2 team in the country while doing it.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Quick thoughts after Ohio State's win over Michigan State on Saturday.

* Michigan entered the weekend leading the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 11 points per game. Colorado, with 28, and Michigan State, with 23, were the only two teams to score more than two touchdowns against the Wolverines. 

So what can you expect Ohio State to score next week?

That's an offense that has struggled to throw against top defenses all year. Saturday against Michigan State was just more of the same, the wind at Spartan Stadium making all the typical issues with the pass game even worse.

I've given up on the pass game coming around, outside of whatever the Buckeyes can throw to Curtis Samuel. The outside receivers had just three of Ohio State's 10 catches. Michigan will only make things more difficult.

Don't expect a replay of the 42-39 shootout from 2006 that no one saw coming.

Counting on anything more than 28 points for Ohio State next week seems like a stretch. So make 27 points or fewer for Michigan the target for the OSU defense.

* Why doesn't Ohio State use Samuel as a tailback anymore? Can't figure it out. On a day when it was tough to throw, that meant Samuel's effectiveness was limited.

He carried the ball four times for 13 yards and caught four passes. J.T. Barrett and Mike Weber combined for 38 carries. Weber broke off a big run, but Barrett, whose stats were hurt by several sacks, finished with 105 yards on 24 carries.

* Michigan State ran a fake punt? In a lost 3-7 season? In the second half of a 7-point game? Mark Dantonio? 

You're kidding. 

So the Spartans got the Buckeyes on that one. But props to Ohio State for getting a stop after the successful fake and forcing Michigan State to punt again. And the Spartans really punted that time.

* It also wasn't a shock that Michigan State went for two after scoring a touchdown with under five minutes to play. This is a lost season for the Spartans. Ohio State, as we have written before, is built for the overtime format with its rushing offense and red zone defense. 

Dantonio knows the Buckeyes have better talent, so taking his shot there, trying to make it 18-17 instead of 17-17 made sense.

Giving the ball to big back L.J. Scott, instead of unsuccessfully trying to throw, also may have made sense. 

* Defensive end Tyquan Lewis continues to make huge plays at important times. Saturday, it was forcing a fumble on a pass rush in the final two minutes, as Michigan State got the ball back with a chance to win. The Spartans recovered, but Lewis had ruined their drive. A desperation throw on the next play was intercepted and ended it.

See video of Urban Meyer's postgame news conference after Ohio State's win at Michigan State. Watch video

EAST LANSING, Mich -- Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said it shortly after the Buckeyes beat Michigan State on Saturday afternoon: They're officially in Michigan mode.

But what about a 17-16 win over the Spartans?

Meyer talked about that and what it means heading into next week during his postgame news conference. You can watch full video of Meyer's news conference above.

No. 2 Ohio State moved to 10-1 (7-1 Big Ten) after beating the Spartans. The Buckeyes will play Michigan next Saturday at 12 p.m. in Columbus.

Mount Union defeated Hobart in the first round of the NCAA Division III football playoffs on Saturday, 38-21.

GENEVA, N.Y. -- Mount Union scored the last 17 points of the game to knock off Hobart, 38-21, in the first round of the NCAA Division III football playoffs Saturday at Boswell Field.

Mount Union, the defending national champion, rebounded from last week's loss to John Carroll and improved to 10-1 on the season. Hobart finishes at 9-2.

With the score tied, 21-21, the Purple Raiders took the lead for good when B.J. Mitchell scored on a 3-yard run with 2:04 remaining in the third quarter.

The Raiders added a 33-yard field goal by Alex Louthan and a 1-yard TD run by Mitchell in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Mount Union took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on touchdowns by Jared Ruth, who caught a 51-yard strike from quarterback Dom Davis, and by J. Evans-Morris on a 7-yard run.

Evans-Morris scored on another 7-yard run in the second quarter to put Mount Union ahead, 21-7, but Hobart used two long scoring drives to tie the game.

Davis completed 20 of 29 passes for 321 yards and a touchdown for Mount. Ruth had eight catches for 113 yards and one touchdown.

Mitchell rushed for 90 yards on 19 carries with two touchdownss.

Hobart's Shane Sweeney launched 57 passes, completing 29 for 291 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Zach Withers had eight catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns.

Mount Union advances to play Johns Hopkins, which defeated Randolph-Macon on Saturday, 42-21.

Doug Lesmerises, Ari Wasserman and Bill Landis discuss in the video inside. Give it a watch. Watch video

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Ohio State won back-to-back games by the score of 62-3, so it seemed as if it was riding high entering the final two weeks of the regular season. 

College Football Playoff, here the Buckeyes come. 

They're still on their way. But they have to beat Michigan to get there. 

Can Ohio State do it?

It depends on how you view its narrow 17-16 win at Michigan State. Did it change our minds about what to think about the Buckeyes heading into next weekend's big game against Michigan? 

Doug Lesmerises, Ari Wasserman and Bill Landis discuss in the video above. Give it a watch. 

"I was kind of mad at what he did the previous play," Weber said. "I let my anger control me, and I apologize to my teammates for that and it won't happen again." Watch video

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Mike Weber was fighting for extra yardage at the end of a run that had already gone for 20 yards when Michigan State safety Montae Nicholson slammed him down on the shoulder that was bothering him. 

Nicholson's hit was a little over the top, but he was never flagged for it. 

Weber got up off the turf and walked toward Nicholson after the play and shoved his finger into the defender's facemask.

It seemed as if Weber was about to be penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, but Nicholson got the flag instead. It may have been the wrong call, but Weber explained that his frustration had nothing to do with the big hit on his shoulder. 

"I was kind of mad at what he did the previous play," Weber said. "I let my anger control me, and I apologize to my teammates for that and it won't happen again." 

What happened on the previous play?

"The previous play, they were doing things under the pile that got me upset that aggravated my shoulder," Weber said. "I took my anger out on that and it won't happen again."

If you want to watch the replay of the play, check out the videos below: 

bchurney: MSU penalty ESPN College Football: Ohio State at Michigan State https://t.co/1l72bhj6hv pic.twitter.com/Ylj30IxWdn

-- FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) November 19, 2016

kevinmcguire: Mike Weber wasn't flagged for this eye poke. ESPN College Football: Ohio Stat... https://t.co/wKIEJiIDMP pic.twitter.com/meHi38I50U

-- FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) November 19, 2016

Glenville's Chris Worley kept Ohio State alive for a College Football Playoff by intercepting a two-point conversion pass to beat Michigan State, 17-16.

EAST LANSING, Michigan -- On the road, on the ropes, needing a stop when you haven't stopped anything all day, or at least all the last drive,  who you gonna call?

Hostbusters.

Two Buckeyes from Cleveland and its suburbs have been silencers of the home crowd and saviors of Ohio State on eerily similar plays in the state of Michigan three years apart.

Worley

Glenville product and junior linebacker Chris Worley drove on the ball in the end zone Saturday afternoon, beating Buckeyes safety Malik Hooker to Michigan State quarterback Tyler O'Connor's two-point conversion pass, making Michigan State tight end Jamal Lyles a helpless bystander.

It was Worley's second interception of the game, and the biggest one on a day when wind made the flags snap like firecrackers under a bruised sky.

Although 4 minutes, 41 seconds were left in the game after the two-pointer failed, it was over then and there. 

Dogfight team

Ohio State, ranked second in the College Football Playoff committee's latest standings, had survived what many said would be a dogfight, winning, 17-16.

"We're a dogfight team," said Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.

Powell

The last time the dogfight team was in this fix, trying to stop the unstoppable on a two-point conversion, the game was at Michigan in 2013. Ohio State safety Tyvis Powell from Bedford cut in front of quarterback Devin Gardner's receiver, Drew Dileo, in the end zone,  grabbing the ball like it was the prized item on his shopping list at a Black Friday sale.  

Powell rose with the stolen ball that clinched a 42-41 victory with only 32 seconds to play while Gardner lay on his back, spent.

Gambler

The surprise Saturday was that Spartans coach Mark Dantonio went for the lead with so much time left, but give the man credit. For a Jim Tressel disciple, he has a gambling jones in the big moments.

That is obvious from the 23-yard run upback Chris Frey made on  fourth down-and-6 out of punt formation at the Spartans' 38 in the fourth quarter.

Most famously, Dantonio rolled the dice on "Little Giants," a touchdown pass off a fake field goal for six the hard way, stunning Notre Dame, 34-31, in overtime in 2010.

"(The Spartans) were controlling the line of scrimmage," Meyer said of Saturday's foiled two-pointer. "I was kind of surprised, but I've been in that situation. They had all sorts of momentum going, so swing and try for the knockout punch."

Weather

Knockouts are hard to come by against Meyer, particularly in November, when he has lost one game (last year's 17-14, last-play lost to Michigan State). His overall record is  60-5 record in five seasons at Ohio State. 

Saturday's game was a meeker version of the crossfire of shrieking wind, whipping rain and rattling sleet in Columbus in 2015. Flurries danced in the steady 20 mph wind, visibility came and went,  with the snow pall lowering and then rising like a curtain.

No ball in the air was anything more than wishing and hoping.

That was why the two-point pass was surprising, although it was short enough to be relatively impervious to the conditions.

'I threw a ball to Curtis (Samuel), and all of a sudden, it took a nose dive to the right. I said, 'Oh, my goodness,'," said quarterback J.T Barrett.

"We threw a bubble screen once, but it didn't bubble," said Meyer, dryly.

Spy story

But when the right read was all that would save the day, Worley, like Powell, was able to jump the passing pattern as easily as if he had read the Spartans' playbook.

"I was spying the quarterback. I could tell by his eyes that he didn't want to run. I zoned off played the passing play," Worley said.

It almost appeared that Hooker and Worley caught the ball simultaneously.

"Did you see it?" Worley said. "I had it. He's just selfish. I kept it."

Cleveland's own

For those who were here on this gray, blustery afternoon, and in Ann Arbor on a  late autumn day awash in golden sunlight in 2013, it was like a seeing a ghost.

"I was there," said Worley, when asked his memories of Powell's pick.

"It's a Cleveland thing," Worley said.

The Buckeyes got the stop in the end, but is the defense ready for what's coming against Michigan? Watch video

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Ohio State's defense got the stop in the end, after almost not getting the stop.

Gareon Conley picked off Michigan State quarterback Tyler O'Conner late in the fourth quarter to seal a 17-16 win over the Spartans. Game over. Michigan State had the ball late in the game with a chance to win, and Ohio State found a way to get it done.

No upsetting loss that ruins your playoff chances this year.

"Last year they kind of out-toughed us," Buckeyes defensive end Sam Hubbard said. "This year we ended up on top because we out-toughed them."

Except Michigan State nearly did the same thing it did last year to Ohio State again on Saturday. It just wasn't on the final drive of the game.

The Spartans drove 58 yards on eight plays to get a touchdown with 4:41 left to cut Ohio State's lead to one. Rather than play for tie, Mark Dantonio -- coaching a three-win team with nothing to lose -- opted to go for two. O'Conner's pass was picked off by either Malik Hooker or Chris Worley.

We'll let them fight over that. The major point is the Buckeyes stopped Michigan State from taking the lead.

But what about the drive that led up to it?

"A number of plays we didn't have the right personnel in the game for what they were doing, to fit up, it wasn't the best situation," Worley said. "When they got to the goal line we just couldn't stop them. It all came down to that two-point play and that's what it was about."

Running back L.J. Scott, who did the bulk of the work to set up the Spartans' game-winning field goal a year ago in Columbus, carried on all eight plays of the scoring drive. It came mostly against Ohio State's base defense. The only difference was having Davon Hamilton at defensive tackle instead of Dre'Mont Jones.

So the personnel couldn't have been much different.

Michigan State became the third team to rush for 200 yards against the Buckeyes this season, and the Spartans' offensive outgained Ohio State 334-310.

Ohio State's defense has been mostly excellent all season. But this wasn't the first time we've seen it give up a long scoring drive at an inopportune time.

"We just missed tackles," defensive end Tyquan Lewis said. "We gotta capitalize on those short yardage plays, wrap up. The Big Ten has a lot of physical ball-carriers. They're gonna fight for yards, but the objective of the defense is to push them the other way, so we have to do a better job of that."

So here's what we know about Ohio State's defense:

* It's hard to pass against them, and it seems they've even got some of the slot receiver issues they had a few weeks ago figured out.

* They're stout in the red zone, and usually don't break after bending.

* But every now and then they've given up some sustained scoring drives at bad moments.

They can't stop everyone all the time. But how do you feel about the defense going into next week's game against Michigan? Watch the video above to hear our take and give yours in the comments section below.

The Buckeyes barely beat Michigan State 17-16, but give the play calling a break this one time. Watch video

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Alarming has emerged as one of Urban Meyer's favorite adjectives, the Ohio State coach readying to ring the bell whenever discussing a part of the team that isn't working the way he'd like.

Leaning over a table during his postgame news conference Saturday at Michigan State after the Buckeyes slipped by with a 17-16 win over the Spartans, Meyer, in a gray Ohio State sweatshirt, looked more like a concerned fan than a winning coach.

Alarm about the play calling on this day?

Legitimate questions about the balance of the Buckeyes offense?

Growing concerns about the passing game that has too often been off target?

Not really. Meyer wasn't happy, but he wasn't alarmed.

This time, roll with the guy in the gray sweatshirt. For once, maybe for the first time in the last two years, we're going to cut the play calling a break. 

Give it a closer look, and even Ezekiel Elliott couldn't complain about Saturday's game plan.

Play calling failures a year ago in Ohio State's history-changing 17-14 loss to the Spartans led to drastic changes. Play caller Ed Warinner adjusted where he watched games, moving from the sideline to the coaches box, because so much against the Spartans went wrong in the wind and cold of a Columbus November.

The offense did a 180 the next week in a 42-13 win over Michigan.

This year, no changes are coming for next week's showdown with the Wolverines. Believe it or not, none are needed. The Buckeyes know just what they are (and aren't) by now, and neither Warinner nor Meyer needs a change in viewpoint on that.

Saturday was really, in the end, just windy. The weather had much more of an effect on passes than a year ago, according to the quarterbacks for both teams. And though the Buckeyes weren't dynamic, they went about the business of their offense with a much greater plan.

"We actually had a weather plan," said Meyer, who called the play calling much better than a year ago. "We had two players rush for over 100 yards against a defense that knew we were going to be running. That's tough."

Meyer said he wanted to throw the ball and had the play calls ready for specific parts of the field. But a few times he backed off when looking at the clock and game situation and realizing something like a tipped pass and a pick-six could ruin the Buckeyes.

So Ohio State ran and took its chances by not taking too many chances.

What doomed the Buckeyes last year was an inability and unwillingness to throw against a weak MSU secondary on a night when Ezekiel Elliott was getting nothing on the ground. In that game, the Buckeyes barely had the ball, just 45 plays.

Elliott carried 12 times, but the problem was that he gained fewer than three yards per carry. And Ohio State didn't throw it enough to make Michigan State back off. Barrett was 9-of-16 for 46 yards that night, when the conditions weren't nearly as bad as this year.

Saturday, Ohio State ran 67 plays. So that's a major difference. 

The Buckeyes also could run it -- another major difference from last year. Tailback Mike Weber gained 111 yards on 14 carries. Albeit, 52 came on one game-changing play that set up the go-ahead touchdown. Even without that, he averaged 4.5 yards per carry, far better than Elliott's 2.8 yard average last year.

And quarterback J.T. Barrett ran it 24 times for 105 yards. Last year, Barrett ran it 15 times for 44 yards. Again, the run wasn't working in 2015.

In 2016, it is.

One more time, to compare Ohio State against the Spartans the last two years:

* 2015: 45 plays, 29 runs, 2.97 yards per carry.

* 2016: 67 plays, 45 runs, 4.98 yards per carry.

That's too many carries for Barrett. More than 73,000 fans in the stands and many more at home turned out and tuned in to watch a guy take the snap and run on 36 percent of Ohio State's plays.

But Meyer will go into retirement, and into the Hall of Fame, running the quarterback too much.

"That's the way it goes," Meyer said. "Way it goes."

Ohio State, guess what, also didn't use Curtis Samuel, its best offensive player, enough. But it's clear, for whatever reason, Ohio State decided halfway through this season Samuel is better used as a receiver than a runner. 

In the first six games this season, Samuel ran it 62 times and caught 29 passes.

In the last five games, Samuel ran it 22 times and caught 32 passes.

On a day with wind like that, would I have found a way to hand it to the Buckeyes' best player more often when throwing was so difficult? Yes.

But Ohio State did run it well without using Samuel. Throw some "way it goes," on that, too, I suppose, though if Michigan State had converted its two-point conversion try and won this game, Ohio State's playoff hopes would have vanished with Samuel gaining 53 yards on eight touches.

(Reconsidering the whole theme of this now, come on, eight touches for Samuel is just crazy, why can't he just run between the tackles a few times .... OK. Cutting them a break. Here we go.)

"I thought we did fine," Meyer said of the gameplan.

Fine sounds about right. Next week, for Michigan, fine won't be enough.

Throwing on the Wolverines will be the toughest test of the season for Ohio State. They won't throw it great. Don't expect that.

But they should throw it enough. They should get it to Samuel enough. They'll still mostly run it, and probably run it with Barrett too often. But Meyer knows what is needed. They very well might not win next week. But it shouldn't be because of a faulty plan.

"I don't know the weather forecast yet but we have to be balanced," Meyer said. "It'll be tough to win if we're not."

For Michigan State, they had just enough, and they knew it.

For Michigan, they'll need more. And they know it.

 

Kevin Fell confirmed Saturday he is stepping down as Elyria's football coach after six years and three playoff appearances.

ELYRIA, Ohio – Kevin Fell said he entered this season set on it being his last at Elyria.

The six-year coach for the Pioneers made it official this weekend by confirming his departure and intentions to coach at another school.

“I told my wife a year ago I think this will be my last year,” he said Saturday. “I have every intention of finding another job. I’m lucky to have good health.”

Fell teaches physical education at Elyria and is remaining at the school in that capacity. He is an Avon Lake resident whose football coaching stops included Lakewood, Wapakoneta and Amherst.

His six years with the Pioneers were among the program’s most successful in the last few decades.

Elyria finished 3-7 this fall, but reached the playoffs in Division I for each of the previous three years. This year marked Elyria’s only losing season under Fell’s leadership, and he finished 37-26.

Fell has coached for 37 years and said, “I just think it’s time to move on.”

“It’s time for someone else,” he said. “We passed our levy, and the future looks bright.”

The Pioneers are slated to return dual-threat quarterback Dontae Beckett as a senior and 6-foot linebacker Qwanda Woodson as a junior. Both received All-Northeast Lakes District honors for their play this season.

Elyria opened the year with back-to-back games against playoff teams, losing to Division II Avon Lake but beating Division I regional finalist Lorain. Injuries slowed momentum from a 2-1 start, and Elyria lost three games by a touchdown or less in the Greater Cleveland Conference.

Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on Twitter (@mgoul) or email (mgoul@cleveland.com). Or log in and leave a message below in the comments section.

The Cleveland Monsters lost to the Milwaukee Admirals in overtime, 2-1, in an American Hockey League Central Division game Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena.

Cleveland's Nick Moutrey (7) sets up for a feed from Aaron Palushaj before his second-period goal Saturday against the Milwaukee Admirals.Cleveland Monsters 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Milwaukee Admirals took the ice against the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday with a perfect 6-0 record in games where they scored the first goal, and with a league-high six overtime games behind them.

They extended both records, and ran their point streak to eight games, when center Felix Girard scored at 2:16 of OT to give the Ads a 2-1 victory over the Monsters at The Q.

The point from the overtime loss improved the Monsters to 5-8-1-1, in eighth place in the American Hockey League Central Division. The Admirals lead the division.

Replaying Milwaukee's 1-0 win over Cleveland on Thursday, the game went scoreless for two periods, with both goals before overtime coming in the middle frame. Milwaukee's Kevin Fiala scored at 10:30, and Cleveland's Nick Moutrey answered at 16:15, with assists by Aaron Palushaj and Jordan Maletta.

Joonas Korpisalo, making his home debut in net for the Monsters, made 21 saves in taking the loss. Milwaukee's Jusse Saros stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced.
Cleveland was a perfect 4-for-4 killing penalties, but 0-for-3 on power plays.

MONSTER MASH: Left wing Markus Hannikainen, Cleveland's team leader in goals, was called up by the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second time this season before Saturday's game ... The game had an early 5 p.m. start, but was delayed almost half an hour, after only six minutes of play, for repairs to a section of dasher board that was knocked out alignment by a hit to Cleveland's Joe Pendenza....Next up, the Monsters play the Rockford IceHogs in Illinois at 8 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Nov. 23.

Terrelle Pryor grew up a Barry Sanders fan, but he's made two of the biggest plays of his career against his hometown Steelers.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Terrelle Pryor was one of the few young football players growing up in Pittsburgh who wasn't a rabid Steelers fan.

"I was a Barry Sanders fan,'' he said. "That's who I really followed as a kid.''

Gearing up to play his hometown team on Sunday, he now realizes how much of an anomaly that was.

"As a kid, you don't really understand the significance of how people love the Steelers," he said this week. "Even some places in Ohio there is Steelers stuff around, and it is a great organization. That is somewhere we want to be, and we want to be great and bring championships here, and I think we can, but this is the test, first test. We've got to beat them.''

Pryor is most eager to play this weekend because he's finally healthy. For the first time since he pulled a hamstring Oct. 16th against the Titans, he wasn't listed on the injury report.

"I'm excited that I'm actually a little healthy right now,'' he said. "I had that three-day break and my legs feel pretty darn good so I am really excited about that so I will be able to be out there flying on Sunday.''

Jackson: Goal is 'to solve the QB issue and I think we will'

The fact he's playing Pittsburgh means more to his friends back home than to him.

"They're jerking me around a little bit,'' he said. "We've got a group chat. I've got about 15 people in it. They say, 'take it easy on them.'"

Oddly enough, the Steelers didn't give Pryor a look when he was out of football for almost three months last year between the Browns waiving him in September and re-signing him in December.

"A lot of teams didn't know much about me,'' he said. "A lot of teams didn't see me practice and see what I was doing. I didn't play in the preseason so there was no film on me. The only team that knew about me was the Browns.

"They kind of understood and knew. That's why a lot of teams didn't give me a shot at the receiver position."

Getting it! Big week!! pic.twitter.com/OLHljq48H4

-- Terrelle Pryor SR (@TerrellePryor) November 15, 2016

Was he surprised the Steelers didn't contact him, especially considering their star receiver Antonio Brown helped him make the transition to receiver?

"That's not my job," Pryor said. "There are a lot of guys out there on all types of teams that are scouting and picking the right guys for their team. Obviously, I wasn't the right guy for their team.''

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has known Pryor since his Parade All-American and National Player of the Year days at nearby Jeannette High School. He even calls him by his nickname, TP.

"What he's done is remarkable but [I'm not] surprised by it,'' said Tomlin. "I've known TP since he was in the 11th grade when I first got here some 10 years ago. He's a tremendous athlete. He's a dedicated competitor. That's shown through everything that he's done. ... It is a credit to him and the work he is willing to put in."

So why didn't Tomlin give him a jingle as Pryor was working on his WR transformation?

"I'm not going to get into our processes,'' said Tomlin. "Thirty-one teams had an opportunity to sign him. I'm glad he found a home in Cleveland. I'm glad things are working out for him."

Coincidentally or not, two of Pryor's biggest plays have come against the Steelers. In 2013 with the Raiders, he rushed for a 93-yard touchdown, the longest rushing TD by a quarterback in NFL history. The TD was commemorated in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Then, in the season finale last year, just one month after the Browns brought him back as a receiver, he caught a 42-yard pass.

 It was a sneak preview of what was to come.

Pryor, who's drawn rave reviews from NFL peers, including Darrelle Revis and Brandon Marshall, leads the Browns with 51 catches for 627 yards and four TDs. He's done so with a team that lost its top two quarterbacks in the first two games of the season. Pryor has worked with four quarterbacks this season, and has played the position himself.

For much of the past seven weeks, rookie Cody Kessler hasn't thrown deep much. Pryor has consistently been double-teamed while first-round pick Corey Coleman missed six games with a broken hand.

On top of that, he's been hobbled by the hamstring for the past four games.
But now, Coleman is back, Kessler is presumably willing to air it out, Pryor's hamstring has stopped barking, and of course, the Steelers -- and their 28th-ranked pass defense -- are in town.

"I'm going to make one this weekend that will be real satisfying,'' he said. "I'm looking forward to the next game and the next play. I don't think I made the best play I can possibly make yet. I think that's coming up. I'm definitely looking forward to this weekend."

Browns quarterback Cody Kessler left Sunday's 24-9 loss to the Steelers with a concussion, and the Browns fell to 0-11. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio -  Cody Kessler left Sunday's 24-9 loss to the Steelers with his second concussion in 29 days, and Josh McCown was lucky that he didn't get knocked out with one too.

Each quarterback was sacked four times and pummeled about another three times by the Steelers' relentless pass rush.

"It's dangerous,'' said Terrelle Pryor. "They're getting hit on every play. I hate it. Whoever's giving up the blocks, they've got to stop this s---.'

The dagger came when McCown was strip-sacked by linebacker Ryan Shazier, and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave recovered in the end zone for a touchdown that produced the final margin with 3:36 remaining.

As a result, the Browns fell to 0-11 to extend their record for worse start to a season. The Steelers, who had lost four straight, improved to 5-5.

The Browns have now lost a club-record 14 straight, 21 of their last 22 and 29 of their last 32. Le'Veon Bell rushed for 146 yards and Ben Roethlisberger improved to 20-2 against them.

For the first time in the NFL history of the club, they now have more losses than victories. They're 461-462-10.

"Obviously these are not very good times and haven't been for us,'' said coach Hue Jackson. "I don't want this group to go backwards anymore than they already have.''

The Browns are also in serious jeopardy of becoming only the second team in NFL history to go 0-16. The 2008 Lions are the other. Cleveland has games left against the New York Giants, Bengals, Bills, Chargers and Steelers (in Pittsburgh) remaining.

The Steelers headed into the game tied for last in the NFL with 13 sacks, and tee'd off on the Browns all afternoon. They had 14 quarterback hits overall, compared to only four by the Browns on Big Ben.

Kessler, 0-8 as a starter, also suffered a concussion against the Bengals Oct. 23 and sat out the Jets game the following week.

Jackson is so concerned he said he'll talk to the medical staff about shutting Kessler down for awhile. With five games left, that could mean the season.

"This is about a young man's career and future so we have to do the right thing,'' said Jackson.

Kessler was blasted by linebacker Lawrence Timmons after he completed a 16-yard pass to Corey Coleman at the end of the third quarter. Timmons was flagged 15 yards for unnecessary roughness, and Kessler took a long time getting up.

He was woozy and wobbly, and soon diagnosed with a concussion with his second concussion in four games.

Joe Thomas said such a forearm or shoulder blow to the head when a QB is already going down after a throw shouldn't be in the game.

At the very least, Kessler will likely sit out next week's game against the Giants, and then comes the bye.

Even before the concussion, he was shaken up a few times on hard blasts by the Steelers, who poured on the pressure all day and were flagged twice for unnecessary roughness, including once on Daniel McCullers, who hit McCown in the head late in the game.

Kessler, who held the ball too long on several occasions, completed 7-of-14 attempts for 128 yards with no touchdowns and one interception for a 52.1 rating.

It was arguably his worst game of the season, and may have been his last. The Browns were using this home stretch to determine if he's the QB of the future, and now that might be over.

In the first half, Kessler completed 3-of-7 attempts for 60 yards with no TDs and one INT for a 33.9 rating. But two of his passes were dropped by Corey Coleman.

The Browns also have Robert Griffin III returning to practice next week, but Jackson said McCown will start against the Giants if Kessler can't go.

Would Jackson even want to risk Griffin behind this shaky protection?

As Pryor observed, "I don' think somebody would take $10 million to sit back there and take those hits.''

"They're trying so hard to win, and sometimes you start thinking you need to do more,'' said Jackson. "You just have to do your job.''

McCown admitted that's not in his nature.

"There is a degree of that because you want to kill this freaking hump,'' he said.

McCown entered the game with one untimed play left in the third quarter because of the Timmons penalty, and led the Browns on a TD march, capped by a 14-yard pass in the end zone to tight end Gary Barnidge, his first TD of the season.

It provided the kind of spark coach Hue Jackson was looking for last week when he replaced Kessler with McCown in Baltimore. But it was too little too late.

McCown finished the game 14-of-27 for 118 yards with 1 TD and no INTs for a 75.8 rating.

On the fateful sack-fumble at the end, he said, "I thought I had some more space to get a good throwaway.''

Pryor's big plays

Pryor promised "I'll be flying out there'' because his hamstring finally felt good. He didn't disappoint. He finished with a team-high five catches for 97 yards, and returned the game in the fourth quarter despite getting the wind knocked out of him.

He caught a 36-yard pass on the Browns' opening drive, making a nice adjustment to the ball. Unfortunately for the Browns, they couldn't cash in. Kessler was picked off on a deep pass to Coleman with 11:46 left in the first quarter.

Pryor made another great play in the third quarter, leaping over cornerback Ross Cockrell for a 26-yard catch on fourth to the 1 on fourth and 9. Once again, the Browns weren't able to take full advantage of the big catch and of their first and goal at the 1. Isaiah Crowell lost 2 yards on the next play, and Kessler was sacked by James Harrison to knock the Browns back to the 8. They settled for a field goal.

During a timeout on the sidelines after the sack, Pryor was steamed and had to be calmed down.

"I'm an ultimate competitor,'' he said. "I take this very seriously.''

He also caught a 15-yard pass in the fourth quarter that led to Barnidge's TD catch that closed the gap to 17-9.  

End of second-half untimed TD

The Steelers scored eight points after scoring on an untimed down to take a 14-0 lead into the locker room. It was more points than they had scored with time on the clock in the first half.

Facing a second and 3 from the Browns 3, the play clock ran out on Roethlisberger, but the officials missed it. Instead, Briean Boddy-Calhoun was flagged for defensive holding for a first down at the 2 with no time left on the clock.

The next play, Joe Haden was flagged for pass interference against Antonio Brown in the end zone to bring up a first and goal at the 1. That brought a barrage of debris from the Dawg Pound into the end zone, and Browns players had to urge their fans to knock it off.

Bell, the workhorse of the first half, then found a seam on the left side for the 1-yard TD on the second untimed down.

The Steelers, who took possession after the two-minute warning, tacked on two points on the conversion with a Roethlisberger pass to tight end David Johnson.

"They don't really respect us as a defense,'' said Haden.

If the officials had caught the expired playclock, the Browns may have trailed only 6-0 at the break.

Vintage Big Ben play

On that first-half TD drive, Roethlisberger pulled off one of those vintage plays that make him a likely Hall of Famer. On third and 2 from the 18, he sidearmed a 5-yard pass to Bell while he was falling to the ground on his right side to avoid pressure from Emmanuel Ogbah. Ogbah got good pressure on Roethlisberger numerous times, but couldn't bring him down.

Holding 'em to field goals

The Steelers were held to field goals on three long drives and thanks to fine third-down play by the Browns defense. On the first one, Briean Boddy-Calhoun knocked a pass away from tight end Jesse James in the end zone.

On the second one, linebacker Chris Kirksey deflected a pass to receiver Eli Rogers. Defensive lineman Danny Shelton punctuated that incompletion to Rogers by drilling Roethlisberger after the throw. The QB got up a little slowly, but he is the seemingly indestructible Big Ben. That kept it to 6-0 Steelers in the second quarter. In the third quarter, safety Derrick Kindred knocked away a pass in the end zone to force the Steelers to settle for another short field goal that increased their lead to 17-3.

Tramon Williams inactive

Williams sat this one out with his knee injury. It meant more time for Boddy-Calhoun, who had his best game of the season, including several breakups.

Next

Browns host the Giants next Sunday at 1 p.m. FirstEnergy Stadium.

Who should play quarterback this season for the Cleveland Browns? Who knows?

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Confession time: When it comes to Cleveland Browns quarterbacks, I don't know what I want.

Actually, I do know.

I want the same thing you do, and I'm not talking about the elusive "Franchise" quarterback.

When it comes to Browns quarterbacks, finding a combination of competence and durability would be a reason for a standing ovation.

Instead, I'll stay seated while writing about the Browns 24-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

This was the 10th time that Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has won a game at FirstEnergy Stadium.

That ties former Brown Derek Anderson for the most wins by a quarterback in this stadium, where the expansion era franchise first took the field in 1999. Ex-Browns quarterback Tim Couch is next with nine victories at FirstEnergy.

This is not about replaying how the Browns passed up Roethlisberger in favor of Kellen Winslow in the 2003 draft.

It is to say that I have been writing about wanting to see more of Cody Kessler.

Well, I did in Sunday's loss.

Sigh...

Kessler started, but was knocked out of the game late in the third quarter with what probably is a concussion. If so, this was the second concussion of the season for the rookie quarterback.

Kessler has started eight games this season. Three times he has failed to survive four quarters because he was injured.

That's not a good sign, as Kessler can't stay on the field.

THEN THERE'S PERFORMANCE

Long before his concussion late in the third quarter, this was truly an awful game for Kessler.

It was harder to know if the rookie quarterback was shaken more by the frigid, wind-whipping, teeth-rattling weather -- or the aggressive Steeler defense.

But his decision making was SOOO ... SLOW ... it was painful to watch.

This is not about being impatient with a rookie. Some of the mistakes were from inexperience.

But he took three sacks when he simply held on to the ball for too long.

He seemed confused by the defenses. When his primary receiver was covered, Kessler had problems knowing where else he wanted to throw the ball.

He was 7-of-14 passing for 128 yards. He had an interception. He was sacked four times, and three were on him because he held the ball for so long.

Being the quarterback on the winless Browns may seem like a hopeless assignment.

But I'm grading on a curve, just looking for progress from Kessler.

In the last three games, he has been sacked nine times. With him on the field, the offense has scored 23 points in a little over nine quarters.

I don't know what to say about Kessler, other than his lack of arm strength was very apparent on this wind-whipped day.

But most alarming, his early season poise seemed missing.

SO NOW WHAT?

When it comes to Browns quarterbacks, I'm just confused.

You can say it's been like that for me for years, and you'd be right.

Josh McCown has some good and bad moments, but he also can't stay healthy. He suffered a broken bone in his shoulder in each of the last two seasons.

He's also 37 years old.

Over the weekend, I wrote that I have no real interest in watching Robert Griffin III play.

But Griffin is working to come back from the shoulder injury he suffered in the opener.

The way this season is going, the Browns may need him to start.

Rookie Kevin Hogan better stay ready, too.

At this point in the 0-11 season, I have no strong opinions on who should start at quarterback for the Browns.

I'm open to suggestions.

My guess is the Browns feel the same way.

Have you seen enough of Cody Kessler? Want to see more of Robert Griffin III?

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Browns' week started with Robert Griffin III being cleared for practice again. It ended with Cody Kessler falling to 0-8 as a starter and leaving his second game this season due to concussion.

It's anyone's guess who will start for the Browns next week against the Giants (probably Josh McCown). Kessler is likely headed to another concussion protocol week, and Griffin isn't yet cleared for contact.

The question is, when both Kessler and Griffin are healthy, which quarterback should the Browns play in the final games of the season? Coach Hue Jackson said two weeks ago that he needs to find out of Kessler can be his quarterback of the future. And yet, Griffin, out since Week 1, was signed in the offseason and touted as a (still) young quarterback with the potential to become a long-term answer for the Browns.

So, who should the Browns devote the starting spot to down the stretch? Kessler or Griffin? Check out the poll below and let us know what you think. 

How the emotions of James Harrison setting the Pittsburgh Steelers' franchise sack record played out Sunday in Cleveland.

CLEVELAND -- Before James Harrison could get to his locker on the right and three-quarters of the way back in the visitors' locker room at FirstEnergy Stadium Sunday evening, the linebacker broke down.

He had played on the same field 12 times before. For the others in the venue on the shore of Lake Erie, less than an hour's drive from where Harrison grew up, James Harrison Sr. was alive. 

After the 13th Harrison Jr. stood in the middle of the room, closer to the door, thought of the man who drove truck, raised him and 13 other children, inspired the youngest among them to work through repeated cuts - briefly becoming a bus driver in between - by the team whose history he'd written himself into, and cried.

Harrison Sr. died in May.  Harrison Jr., 38, doesn't usually tear up after football games.

But in Sunday's 24-9 win against the Cleveland Browns (0-11), he got his third of the 2016 season, on 2nd and 3 at his own 8 with 9:39 left in the third quarter he hauled down Cody Kessler and set a franchise record with the 77.5th of his Pittsburgh Steelers (5-5) career.

His much younger teammate Ryan Shazier couldn't remember where he was on the field when Harrison set the record, but he remembered being at his own locker when Harrison shed tears after the game.

He, along with any other Steeler who's asked, on offense or defense, said he looks up to Harrison. Vince Williams' locker back in Pittsburgh is next to Harrison's. 

Williams credits the veteran for teaching him "everything." Ben Roethlisberger, 34, has joked that Harrison might outplay all of his teammates. And while the 2016 season may very well be the linebacker's last, Harrison only started Sunday's game, Mike Tomlin said, because the team needed him to.

He was promoted to starting right outside linebacker over Jarvis Jones, who was 14 when Harrison was toiling away with the Rhein Fire, this week.

Tomlin and his fellow coaches typically dole out Harrison's snaps with the end of the season in mind. Yet in Cleveland, the Steelers were fighting for that time to not be Week 17. The head coach wondered aloud afterward what he would be saving Harrison for if he sat him.

Moments prior his team had seen Harrison, in silence, cry.

"I was thinking about my father," Harrison said. "And how he's not here for it. That's it."

He then turned back to his locker. And smiled.

Harrison cited his father's name in fighting the NFL's PED investigation this summer. What if he hadn't stopped?

Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor showed up and spoke up Sunday after yet another loss. The Browns need to pay him while he's still a believer. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Hue Jackson found Terrelle Pryor bent over at his locker, wrapped an arm around his waist and talked to him quietly.

After Pryor stood up, they smiled and embraced.

Whatever the topic, the most important discussion concerning Pryor is above Jackson's pay grade.

The Browns need to pay the man. They seem to know that. The price is going up. After Sunday, they should throw in a little extra for pain and mental anguish, too.

Pay him soon, before he goes looking for an organization in free agency that can identify quarterback talent and keep it healthy.

Pay him while he's still on hugging terms with his employers.

"Somebody's got to say it so I will," Pryor said late Sunday afternoon. "I'm tired of our quarterbacks getting hit.

"This is bullcrap...They can't keep getting hit like that....Whoever's given up their blocks, they need to stop it."

Pryor didn't single out overmatched linemen, or running backs put in unenviable one-on-one pass blocking situations, or the front office that willingly aided in the line's unnecessary offseason reconstruction.

It's just as well he didn't, because any one of those groups could just as easily point to the hole in his argument: Browns quarterbacks sometime earn their undue punishment by holding the ball far too long.

Cody Kessler's inexperience showed again Sunday. As for Josh McCown, his internal clock looks broken.

A Steelers team that managed 13 sacks all season and missed Cam Heyward Sunday sacked Kessler and McCown four times each.

Pryor doesn't always talk after losses, afraid his emotions might get the best of him. (We don't know his attendance grade for talking after wins, of course).

Sunday's 24-9 loss to the Steelers -- that's 0-11 if you're still counting -- temporarily left Pryor breathless after a hit in the fourth quarter. But it hardly left him speechless afterward.

Pryor got laid out reaching for a too-high McCown pass over the middle with 3:49 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Jackson called it a case of "getting the wind knocked out of him." The same happened to the Browns one play later, with Pryor on the sidelines, when McCown invited a strip sack at the goal line. Tackle Javon Hargrave recovered in the end zone. The PAT made it 24-9.

Deftly avoiding a pass rusher coming clean at him, McCown rolled left and patted the ball as if he were waiting for a receiver to come open in a seven-on-seven drill.

"They are just trying to hard to win," Jackson said when asked if McCown is too aggressive in trying to make plays.

Pryor might have been better served keeping his opinion to himself Sunday. But give him this much: He's playing like 0-11 is a personal affront.

"I'm tired of letting our fans down," he said.

7 sacks and counting! Keep doing it boys

-- Cam Heyward (@CamHeyward) November 20, 2016

Cleveland Browns vs Pittsburgh Steelers Rivalry view party @StFelixHwd Sunday https://t.co/Oqg6ZUFStP #BrownsvsSteelers #Hollywood pic.twitter.com/B2uR0aVRhJ

-- LA Browns Backers (@BrownsBackersLA) November 17, 2016

With their loss against the #Steelers today, the #Browns have officially been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. So...yeah

-- Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 20, 2016

His adjustment on a Kessler pass into the swirling winds gave the Browns a first down at the 1-yard line early in the third quarter of a game the Browns trailed 14-0. But from there, all the Browns could manage was a field goal.

Later, Pryor got wide open in the end zone twice. McCown missed him the first time. The second time -- on the final play of the game --McCown was flushed and threw short to the sideline with Pryor breaking open in across the middle of the end zone.

"I'm a competitor," he said when asked if he showed his frustration more than usual Sunday.

He finished with five catches for 97 yards, giving him 56 catches for 724 yards and four touchdowns. 

If anything, the Browns underused him Sunday. Pay him before he realizes that, too.

OK, so the last time "pay the man" was heard after the Browns mixed it up with a division rival, the player was Brian Hoyer, and Deion Sanders was singing his praises after a prime-time dismantling of the Bengals in 2014.

Pryor seems a much safer bet, given his size and speed and seeing as how the organization seems solidly behind him.

"I love playing for Hue," Pryor said. "I love playing for (Jimmy) Haslam. He is a great owner. They have given us one of the best facilities. They want to win.

"I don't believe in taking the easy road and going to teams just because they are great. I would rather start how we are and build it into an empire."

Great ownership, eh? Empire?

Pay him while he still thinks that way, and before he gets those notions beat clear out of him.

Cleveland Browns quarterbacks Cody Kessler and Josh McCown did not make the Pittsburgh Steelers nervous on Sunday in Cleveland. The Browns lost, 24-9.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Starting quarterback Cody Kessler went 7-of-14 for 128 yards in the Cleveland Browns' 24-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium. Kessler was intercepted once and sacked four times and exited because of a concussion. Kessler's replacement, Josh McCown, was 14-of-27 for 118 yards and one touchdown. McCown was sacked four times.

Here is a capsule look at the Browns' quarterback performances after DVR review of the CBS telecast:

Woebegone: The Browns (0-11) have lost 14 in a row dating to last season.

Skid stopped: The Steelers (5-5) had lost four straight.

Another mismatch: The Browns have been dominated for three straight games.

In Week 9, they lost to the Cowboys, 35-10, in Cleveland. In Week 10, they lost to the Ravens, 28-7, in Baltimore.

Not in the same league: Pittsburgh's defense, which is not supposed to make opponents nervous, toyed with the Browns' offense.

Steelers at every level were too fast and too physical and too physical and too fast. They did whatever they wanted, and the Browns largely were powerless to stop them.

Yikes: Kessler appeared to be confused by the Steelers' zone-blitz schemes. He was in the midst of a mediocre-to-bad performance before he got knocked out in the third quarter. He has suffered two concussions this season.

McCown made some plays, the touchdown pass foremost among them. But he left plenty to be desired, too.

Final grades: Kessler D-*. McCown D-.

Yes, the weather made throwing difficult. And the o-line and running backs had issues attempting to pass-protect. And the struggles of the Browns' defense took the ball out of Kessler's hands for much of the first half. Still, the collective output of Kessler and McCown needed to be much better against a defense that can be exploited.

*I refuse to give an F to a (rookie) quarterback who suffered his second concussion of the season. Kessler's short- and long-term health are all that really matters.

Piece by piece: Here is a breakdown of the Browns' dropbacks:

FIRST QUARTER

First possession (0-0)

3rd-and-6 @ Cleveland 26

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, complete to WR Terrelle Pryor on right for 36 yards.
• Skinny: Kessler bought time and threw strike to Pryor, who made catch near boundary at Pittsburgh 47.

1st-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 38

• Result: Kessler, from under center, incomplete intended for WR Corey Coleman on left.
• Skinny: Kessler given plenty of time. Coleman dropped pass near boundary at Pittsburgh 31.

3rd-and-17 @ Pittsburgh 45

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, intended for Coleman intercepted by CB Artie Burns at Pittsburgh 4. 
• Skinny: Burns, who covered Coleman reasonably well, was helped by under-thrown pass.

Second possession (Steelers, 3-0)

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 22

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, sacked by DE Stephon Tuitt for minus-7 yards.
• Skinny: Tuitt beat RG John Greco.

3rd-and-12 @ Cleveland 20

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, incomplete intended for RB Duke Johnson Jr. NULLIFIED by Burns illegal use of hands.
• Skinny: Steelers LB Lawrence Timmons was unblocked from Browns' left side and crushed Kessler, thereby blowing up screen attempt. But Burns went high with hands in press against Coleman.

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 25

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, complete to WR Andrew Hawkins on left for 20 yards.
• Skinny: Hawkins made catch at Cleveland 31.

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 45

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Pryor on right.
• Skinny: Pass a tad high and a tad wide. Pryor got glove on it.

SECOND QUARTER

3rd-and-8 @ Cleveland 47

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, sacked by DT Javon Hargrave for minus-11 yards.
• Skinny: Sack set up when Timmons, coming from Browns' left side, overpowered Johnson.

Third possession (Steelers, 6-0)

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 25

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, complete to Coleman on left for 4 yards.
• Skinny: Coleman made catch at Cleveland 25.

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 41

• Result: Kessler, from under center, incomplete intended for Coleman on left.
• Skinny: Pass wobbled to Coleman, who jumped and dropped it at Cleveland 48.

2nd-and-10 @ Cleveland 41

• Result: Kessler, from under center, sacked by LB Arthur Moats for minus-11 yards.
• Skinny: Kessler waited and waited. Moats beat TE Randall Telfer.

CBS analyst Rich Gannon said: "Kessler can't hold the football against this Pittsburgh defense. The second and third hitch will get you. The ball needs to come out on time.''

Kessler at half: 3-of-7 for 60 yards, one interception, three sacks. Cleveland had possession for 9 minutes, 23 seconds. (Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was 18-of-25 for 132 yards.)

THIRD QUARTER

Fourth possession (Steelers, 14-0)

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 46

• Result: Kessler, from under center, incomplete on throwaway to left.
• Skinny: Browns' attempted flea flicker (Johnson to Kessler) failed because of pressure and QB hit by Tuitt.

2nd-and-10 @ Cleveland 46

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, complete to Johnson on right for 4 yards.
• Skinny: Johnson caught swing pass at Cleveland 39.

3rd-and-6 @ 50

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, complete to Johnson over middle for 22 yards.
• Skinny: Johnson, coming from Browns' right, beat Timmons on arrow route.

1st-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 28

• Result: Kessler, from under center, incomplete intended for Coleman in end zone.
• Skinny: Reception likely would have occurred out of bounds. Burns with good coverage against go-route.

3rd-and-9 @ Pittsburgh 27

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, incomplete intended for TE Gary Barnidge over middle.
• Skinny: Kessler threw slightly behind Barnidge, who reached back toward middle and dropped pass at Pittsburgh 19.

4th-and-9 @ Pittsburgh 27

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, complete to Pryor on left for 26 yards.
• Skinny: Kessler stayed calm in pocket that collapsed from five-man rush (with sixth Steeler shadowing). Pryor adjusted to under-thrown pass and made snatch-catch near boundary at Cleveland 3. Pryor beat CB Ross Cockrell.

2nd-and-goal @ 3

• Result: Kessler, from under center, sacked by LB James Harrison for minus-5 yards.
• Skinny: Harrison bull-rushed LG Spencer Drango, who was unable to set his base.

3rd-and-goal @ 8

• Result: Kessler, from shotgun, scramble for 2 yards.
• Skinny: Kessler felt pressure from LB Ryan Shazier and took off.

(Browns kicked field goal.)

Fifth possession (Steelers, 17-3)

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 25

• Result: Kessler, from under center, complete to Coleman on right for 16 yards,
• Skinny: Kessler grabbed by Shazier on release, then drilled by Timmons (roughing the passer). Coleman somehow caught wobbler in traffic. Kessler knocked out of game and replaced by McCown.

1st-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 44

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Coleman on left/middle for 3 yards.
• Skinny: Coleman made catch at Pittsburgh 41.

FOURTH QUARTER

2nd-and-7 @ Pittsburgh 41

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to RB Isaiah Crowell on left for 3 yards.
• Skinny: Checkdown. Crowell mad catch at Pittsburgh 42.

3rd-and-4 @ Pittsburgh 38

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, sacked by Moats for minus-5 yards.
• Skinny: Moats beat RT Austin Pasztur. (Steelers entered tied for last in NFL with 13 sacks.)

4th-and-9 @ Pittsburgh 43

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Barnidge over middle for 9 yards.
• Skinny: McCown threw strike into tight window. No YAC.

1st-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 34

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Pryor in end zone.
• Skinny: Pryor, on go-route, covered by Cockrell.

2nd-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 34

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Coleman on left NULLIFIED by C Cam Erving holding.
• Skinny: McCown over-shot Coleman. Timmons almost intercepted.

2nd-and-25 @ Pittsburgh 49

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Pryor over middle for 15 yards.
• Skinny: McCown, under pressure, threw strike. Pryor made catch at Pittsburgh 34.

3rd-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 34

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Johnson on right for 20 yards.
• Skinny: McCown escaped potential sack and connected with wide-open Johnson at Pittsburgh 25.

1st-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 14

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Crowell on left for 4 yards.
• Skinny: Swing pass after pump.

2nd-and-6 @ Pittsburgh 10

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Crowell on left for minus-4 yards.
• Skinny: Shazier easily diagnosed it.

3rd-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 14

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Barnidge over middle for 14-yard touchdown.
• Skinny: McCown, under pressure from five-man rush, threw strike into tight window. Barnidge made catch at goal line. Browns missed extra point.

Sixth possession (Steelers, 17-9)

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 38

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, sacked by Tuitt for minus-7 yards.
• Skinny: McCown didn't like what he saw, then unable to avoid Tuitt. Four-man rush.

2nd-and-17 @ Cleveland 31

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Barnidge on right.
• Skinny: Pass thrown behind Barnidge at Cleveland 36, almost intercepted.

3rd-and-17 @ Cleveland 31

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Barnidge for 5 yards NULLIFIED by Timmons illegal use of hands. Timmons was rushing against Johnson from Steelers' right.

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 36

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, sacked by Timmons for minus-11 yards.
• Skinny: Timmons, coming from Steelers' right, overpowered Crowell. McCown initially under pressure up middle.

2nd-and-21 @ Cleveland 25

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Coleman over middle for 16 yards.
• Skinny: Coleman blasted by S Mike Mitchell but held on. Flag for unnecessary roughness picked up.

3rd-and-5 @ Cleveland 41

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for WR Rashard Higgins on left/middle.
• Skinny: McCown overcooked it, or effectively threw it away. Higgins was bracketed at Pittsburgh 42.

Seventh possession (Steelers, 17-9)

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 13

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Pryor over middle.
• Skinny: McCown threw high and late to Pryor, who was outstretched when drilled in midsection by Mitchell at Cleveland 27.

2nd-and-10 @ Cleveland 13

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, strip-sacked by LB Ryan Shazier for minus-11 yards. Hargrave recovered in end zone for touchdown.
• Skinny: Shazier, on second-level zone blitz from Steelers' left, came clean and chased McCown.

Gannon said: "I don't think Josh McCown realized how quick Ryan Shazier is....McCown's got to throw the ball away in that situation....He knows better than that.''

Eighth possession (Steelers, 24-9)

1st-and-15 @ Cleveland 20

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, scramble for 6 yards.
• Skinny: Shazier, on similar zone-blitz rush from previous play, chased McCown. Tuitt smashed McCown.

2nd-and-9 @ Cleveland 26

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Crowell on right for 1 yard.

3rd-and-8 @ Cleveland 27

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Pryor on right.

4th-and-8 @ Cleveland 27

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Pryor over middle for 8 yards.

• Skinny: Pryor stretched for first down.

(2:00 warning)

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 35

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Pryor over middle for 12 yards.

1st-and-10 @ Cleveland 47

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Coleman on left.

• Skinny: Pass tipped at line.

2nd-and-10 @ Cleveland 47

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Barnidge over middle.
• Skinny: Mitchell almost intercepted.

3rd-and-10 @ Cleveland 47

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Coleman on left.
• Skinny: Timmons blasted McCown, causing errant throw.

4th-and-10 @ Cleveland 47

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Johnson on left for minus-4 yards, Johnson fumble, recovered by Steelers and returned for touchdown. Play NULLIFIED by Steelers roughing the passer.

1st-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 38

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to Crowell on right for 9 yards.

2nd-and-1 @ Pittsburgh 29

• Result: McCown, from shotgun,  incomplete intended for Pryor on left.

• Skinny: Essentially a throwaway after pressure.

3rd-and-1 @ Pittsburgh 29

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Coleman on right.

• Skinny: Burns almost intercepted. He was aggressive against Coleman on slant.

1st-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 27

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Coleman on middle/right.

• Skinny: Ball off outstretched Coleman.

2nd-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 27

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, scramble for 5 yards.

3rd-and-5 @ Pittsburgh 22

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for WR Ricardo Louis on right.

• Skinny: Essentially a throwaway under pressure.

4th-and-5 @ Pittsburgh 22

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, complete to TE Seth DeValve on right for 8 yards.

• Skinny: DeValve made catch at Pittsburgh 16.

1st-and-10 @ Pittsburgh 14

• Result: McCown, from shotgun, incomplete intended for Johnson on right.
• Skinny: Final play of game.

Jimmie Johnson won his seventh NASCAR championship on Sunday when he captured the Ford Ecoboost 500 at Homestead, Fla.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Jimmie Johnson tied Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with a record seven NASCAR championships when the hard-luck breaks of racing turned Sunday's title-deciding finale into his crowning moment.

Johnson probably had the worst car of the four championship contenders at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but a strange sequence of events opened the track for him to take the title over Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and defending champion Kyle Busch.

"There was no way on earth," Johnson said. "I didn't think that the race was unfolding for us like we needed it to to be the champs. But we kept our heads in the game."

Edwards was in position to win until a caution with 10 laps remaining set up a wild sequence that ruined his title hopes. Edwards tried to block Logano on the restart, wound up wrecked, and it was Johnson who drove through the wreckage to take the championship lead.

Johnson had to withstand two more restarts, including one in overtime, to score his first career victory at Homestead in the most monumental race of his career.

The title was there for the taking for Edwards until the fateful sequence that changed history.

He was leading when Dylan Lupton brought out a caution with 15 laps remaining, and it forced Edwards to hold off the competition on a restart with 10 to go.

Logano, so masterful on restarts for two years now, tried to dart around Edwards on the bottom. Edwards refused to yield and tried to fend off the move by blocking Logano low. Contact between the two sent Edwards hard into an interior wall, then all the way across the track for a second hit. He had been the most dominant driver of the Chase contenders, but was left with a wrecked car.

"He came down right in front of me," Logano said on his radio.

Edwards stood on the track and watched the replay of the accident, and appeared to mutter "damn," hands on hips, before he began a long walk to Logano's pit box. Once there, he stopped at Logano's pit box before continuing a journey on foot through the infield to make the mandatory stop at the care center.

He acknowledged he was aggressive protecting his position from Logano.

"I was racing for my life up to that point," he said. "I just pushed the issue as hard as I could because I figured that was the race there. I had to push it, I couldn't go to bed tonight and think that I gave him that lane."

Edwards felt it was important to assure Logano's team it was just a racing incident, but he made it clear he was rooting for teammate Busch to win.

The benefactor of Edwards' error, though, was Johnson, who had darted through the wreck ahead of Busch and Logano. Crew chief Chad Knaus pumped his fists in joy, all too aware that a dog of a night had just turned into the race of their lives.

Logano wasn't giving up his effort, though, and headed to pit road to take on new tires for a final restart.

"This guy on a restart with five laps to go, I'll take him every day of the week," crew chief Todd Gordon said.

Logano restarted eighth but was a bull as he pushed his way through traffic and into third place, behind Johnson, after a caution forced another restart.

This time, Johnson got the start of his life and jumped into the lead. He didn't look back, only forward at the history book.

"Luck came our way and we were able to win the race and win this championship," he said.

Left tackle Joe Thomas said that the offensive struggles the Browns are facing can be traced in part to players the Browns are missing on the line. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Browns future Hall-of-Fame left tackle Joe Thomas watched his good friends Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz walk in free agency in the offseason.

Now, he's watching Cody Kessler and Josh McCown get pummeled game after game, and his quarterbacks getting hurt on a regular basis.

Kessler and McCown were sacked four times each in Sunday's 24-9 loss to the Steelers, and Kessler left the game with his second concussion in eight starts. In his four years at USC, he never had a concussion.

"Well, we lost a couple really good players, I think the best at their position,'' said Thomas. "But that was our strategy in the offseason. That's what we decided to do. You've got to lie in the bed that you've made, and I don't make the decisions on who comes and goes. So that's not something that I can concern myself with.

"For me, it's all about trying to do my job to the best of my ability and do everything I can to help our team win, and the guys that are making the personnel decisions, they're the experts on that, so they're the ones that have to make those decisions and look at those decisions when they're made."

In addition to linemen giving up sacks, running back Duke Johnson was overmatched trying to pick up the blitz, and tight end Randall Telfer gave up one of the sacks.

"It's the line getting on the guys we want to be on,'' Thomas said. "It's the running backs knowing who we're blocking and being on their right guys. It's the quarterbacks understanding how we're blocking, and readjusting the protection if it needs to be readjusted. We haven't been on the same page enough and of course it comes down to just winning the one-on-one matchups."

The Steelers overpowered the Browns largely with their inside linebackers Ryan Shazier and Lawrence Timmons, who combined on the play that resulted in Kessler's concussion. The Browns have also been hurt tremendously by the loss of premier left guard Joel Bitonio to foot surgery for the season. Rookie Spencer Drango is replacing him, and it's nowhere near the same.

"They've got four big guys that are good at rushing the passer, two outside 'backers, two inside guys and then their inside linebackers rush the passer a lot better than most inside guys,'' said Thomas. "When you've got five offensive linemen, you try to block their five best rushers, but with two inside guys that are really good like that you're always going to have sort of a mismatch a little bit when you have a running back blocking one of those guys and then trying to get the communication worked out a lot of times.

"Sometimes it's difficult to try to make sure that you are on the best matchups and to get the best possible guys blocking the best possible guys."
 
Is there anything that can be done to better protect QBs this year?

"We've just got to block better and we've got to find a better solution for keeping them upright,'' he said. "There's not any rocket science to it. It's trying to get the best hat on the best hat, winning the one-on-one matchup and trying to make sure that we're all on the same page with who's blocking who and where the quarterback's going to be."

It didn't help that the Browns couldn't run the ball and rushed only 13 times against 41 passes. Isaiah Crowell gained 10 yards on his 8 carries and was dropped for losses as many times as he went forward.
 
Jackson acknowledged how hard it is to watch his QBs gets creamed.

"It's tough. It is tough,'' he said. "I think we all know what we are doing and what we signed up for. It is football and you are going to get some of those hits. It is part of it. We will move forward."

He also offered no solution for how it can get better.

"I don't think it's from a lack of trying,'' he said. "Our guys are trying. I have to put them in better situations. It all starts and stems from the top. It starts with me so I have to put these guys in better situations. Today, I just thought as you looked out there as things were unfolding and happening, their team made more plays than we did.

"I don't want this group to go backwards any more than what we already have. I have to regroup with the guys and regroup with our coaches, and we have to keep pressing forward. We're not going to let the record and where we are dictate how we are feeling about this because the guys have done great.

"I will definitely plead to them, and I'm sure they will respond because that's the kind of group that they have been and that's who they are. They will walk back in here again on Wednesday when we get ready. We will get ready for New York, and they will come out here ready to play."

Well, not all of them.

 

Jackson brought a scheme with him from Cincinnati that took advantage of his many weapons -- unfortunately, for now, the weapons aren't here yet. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor took the blame squarely off of the Browns defense on Sunday following his team's 11th loss in a row to start the season. 

"I'll tell you this," Pryor said, "if we want to win the game, we have to help our defense out and we have to score more points, point blank, period." 

He's not wrong. On top of the low scoring output, the Browns offense mustered 209 net yards. The Browns averaged 3.4 yards per play. They rushed for just 33 yards and completed 21 of 41 passes, good for 51 percent. 

It's the continuation of a disturbing trend. They gained just 144 yards of offense ten days ago against Baltimore including, again, just 33 yards on the ground. They had 222 yards of offense against Dallas, 45 on the ground. Even against the Jets, when the offense tallied 407 yards, they managed just 133 yards in the second half. 

"We need to apply pressure and score points," Pryor said. "We have to score touchdowns. That's how you win in this league and that's how you're going to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and we didn't do that today and that's on us." 

"I didn't think we played well on offense at all," head coach Hue Jackson said on Sunday. "We have to get better, and I take responsibility for that. We have to make more plays and we have to do a better job of finding a way to score." 

Jackson has never shied away this season from taking the spotlight off of his players and putting it on himself. There have certainly been some head-scratching trends. The Browns have all but abandoned the running game - they ran the ball 13 times on a cold, windy afternoon against the Steelers. There were too many times on Sunday when five offensive linemen were left out to dry against an aggressive, blitzing Steelers defense. 

Jackson comes from a place in Cincinnati where he ran a successful offense, particularly in 2015. He also had the likes of A.J. Green, Mohamed Sanu, Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert catching the ball. He had two 700-yard rushers last season.  

Jackson has spent much of this season trying to run that offense and, quite frankly, it's stalled. 

"It is tough because at this part of the season, there are some things I thought maybe we would start getting better at, and it looks like we are still not there yet," Jackson said. "We will still have a ways to go, and I know that. I can see it." 

Jackson is coaching his offense - an offense that emphasizes the talent of his skill players. His players, outside of Pryor and Joe Thomas, haven't caught up. Corey Coleman has struggled to stay on the field and he came up with a case of the drops against Pittsburgh. The other rookie receivers haven't been able to produce consistently. Jackson shares in the blame, too, having abandoned the run too often, although Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson have struggled in their own right.

"It's an execution issue," Pryor said, "because, like I said before, our coaches give us the right things and they put us in the right situation but we've got to take advantage of that and we're not." 

The coaching staff might be putting their players in the right position. The problem is that those players, right now, are square pegs being shoved into round holes. The offense isn't working. It's worked in other places, but, just like the team itself, it's still very much under construction here. 

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