Baker Mayfield threw for two touchdowns, and the Cleveland defense beat down and beat up the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night, resulting in a 21-7 win for the Browns.
The result was marred by a huge brawl with eight seconds left that resulted in the ejections of three players. Cleveland's Myles Garrett and Larry Ogunjobi, along with Pittsburgh's Maurkice Pouncey, were booted.
Garrett could be facing a long suspension after he ripped quarterback Mason Rudolph's helmet off and then hit him in the head with it. Pouncey punched and kicked Garrett in response.
Mayfield completed 17 of 32 passes for 193 yards and added a touchdown run while playing his second straight turnover-free game after committing 13 giveaways in the first eight games.
Linebacker Joe Schobert starred for the Browns' defense with 10 tackles, a sack and two interceptions. The last pick set up Mayfield's game-sealing, 8-yard touchdown toss to Stephen Carlson with 5:25 left.
Pittsburgh (5-5) saw its four-game winning streak end as Rudolph endured a rough game. Rudolph hit on just 23 of 44 passes for 221 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions.
The Steelers lost leading rusher James Conner (shoulder) and top receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) in the first half. That was part of a physical, chippy game in which Cleveland (4-6) was penalized eight times for 121 yards.
Browns safety Damarious Randall was ejected in the third quarter for a helmet-to-helmet hit on rookie wideout Diontae Johnson. It was the first of four penalties on an 87-yard drive that Pittsburgh capped with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Rudolph to Jaylen Samuels at the 5:39 mark, cutting Cleveland's lead to 14-7.
The Browns set an immediate tone by forcing a three-and-out to start the game, then going 65 yards on just five plays. Mayfield found Odell Beckham for 42 yards to the 1, then snuck the final yard for a 7-0 advantage before the game was four minutes old.
Cleveland upped the lead to 14-0 on Mayfield's 1-yard scoring strike to Jarvis Landry with 9:55 left in the second quarter.
Nick Chubb rushed 27 times for 92 yards for Cleveland, becoming the first player to go over the 1,000-yard mark on the ground this year.
--Field Level Media
