Eric Wright, who struggled against the Ravens in week three, gave up two of the three TD passes on Sunday.
View full sizeEric Wright lost his grip on Hines Ward and the football as Ward spun away for a third-quarter touchdown Sunday afternoon. Wright was twice victimized on Pittsburgh TD passes. "There's not really anything you can be too frustrated about," he said. "Just have a short-term memory and move on. Those type of plays happen."PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Browns cornerback Eric Wright, who struggled against Baltimore's Anquan Boldin in week 3, gave up two of Ben Roethlisberger's three touchdown passes en route to the Browns' 28-10 loss on Sunday.
In the second quarter, Wright got turned around on a 29-yard TD catch by receiver Mike Wallace to put the Steelers up, 7-3. Matt Roth hit Roethlisberger a split-second after the throw.
In the third quarter, Wright went for the ball on a pass to Hines Ward and missed, enabling Ward to skate past him at the 5 for an eight-yard TD.
"I felt myself slipping off the tackle so I already had my hand on the ball so I tried to rip it," said Wright of the Ward play. "I knew we had some guys around. But I've got to make the tackle. We're on the 2-yard line or wherever. If I get him down, we've got a chance to stop them."
In his defense, Wright didn't get much help in terms of pressure up front -- the Browns had no sacks and only two hurries -- but he took the blame for the Wallace TD.
"I felt like I was in good position," he said. "I turned and looked for the ball and couldn't find it. Next thing I know he had it in his hands for a touchdown. You've got to find a way to put yourself in better position to see the ball. Maybe if I would have backed up and got off a little earlier, I would've been in better position. But I felt like I was close enough to make a play, I just couldn't track the ball."
Wright said he's not going to dwell on the mistakes.
"That's the name of the game," he said. "There's not really anything you can be too frustrated about. Just have a short-term memory and move on. Those type of plays happen. You've got to find a way to put yourself in better position to find the ball."
He said Roethlisberger's ability to extend plays makes it all the harder.
"That's not something the world doesn't know already," he said. "That's what he does. We worked on that aspect of his game, to continue to fight when the play's extended. That's tough for us on the back end, but we have to find a way to stay on our guy."
Roethlisberger's final TD, the 14-yarder to tight end Heath Miller, was surrendered by Sheldon Brown.
Dawson does it: Phil Dawson's 39-yard first-quarter field goal set the franchise all-time NFL record at 235, passing the 234 kicked by Hall of Famer Lou Groza.
Coach Eric Mangini stepped out onto the field to congratulate Dawson just before the ensuing kickoff. But Dawson, who takes losses as hard as anyone, wasn't exactly jubilant.
"I've been around here long enough to understand what this rivalry is all about," said Dawson. "As I stand here right now, that's all that really matters to me. We just got beat by the Steelers. That's about as tough as it gets."
Kickball, anyone? After James Harrison drilled Mohamed Massaquoi in the head in the second quarter, a flag was thrown -- but not on Harrison. It was on Alex Mack for kicking the ball after the play. Mack received a five-yard penalty to put the Browns in second and long, and they punted two plays later.
"What I was trying to do was, I thought it was a fumble and I was trying to get it out of bounds so no one could recover it," said Mack. "I wasn't just trying to kick a ball.
"Unfortunately it didn't turn out well. That's the way the cookie crumbles."
Untimely error: Chansi Stuckey was pressed into service as a punt returner after Josh Cribbs went down, and realized how hard a job it is. He fumbled a fourth-quarter punt, and the Steelers converted it into a TD.
"I definitely have a newfound respect for Josh and what he does," said Stuckey. "Their punter did a great job. He got a lot of movement on the ball, but still, it's my job to catch the ball and it's something I've got to go work on this week."
Stuckey said the ball hit his hands and "then they were in my face and they kind of got it before I could, so it was unfortunate. But that's what happened."
He said he's only returned punts in practice and preseason, "so I'm still getting used to it. It's something I've got to do and I've got to work on it this week." He fair-caught two others.
Stuckey also caught four passes for 46 yards. In his last three games, Stuckey has 14 receptions for 156 yards.
A foot of distinction: Browns punter Reggie Hodges was the highlight on special teams, placing four punts inside the 10.
"Their punter did a nice job," said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. "They had us backed up. We were looking at a full field for a majority of the early portion of the game."
A debut by the numbers: Colt McCoy became the 16th quarterback to start for the Browns since 1999. He also became the 12th rookie in franchise history to start for Cleveland. His 281 passing yards were the second-most ever by a Browns rookie QB, trailing only Eric Zeier's 310 at Cincinnati on Oct. 29, 1995.
It is also the most by a Brown in his starting debut since Kelly Holcomb's 326 against Kansas City on Sept. 8, 2002.
Extra points: Rashard Mendenhall's two-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the first rushing touchdown the Browns have surrendered this season. It snapped a streak dating back to 2009, covering 33 consecutive quarters over nine games. ... Rookie cornerback Joe Haden recorded his first career interception off Roethlisberger and returned it 62 yards to set up a field goal. ... Safety T.J. Ward led the team with 10 tackles, which tied his best this season. He has been the Browns' top tackler in four of the six games and leads the team with 48 tackles. Ward also added one special teams tackle, and is tied for the team lead with six. ... Peyton Hillis said his pulled quad felt OK during the game.
| Analysis of the Cleveland Browns game against the Pittsburgh Steelers |