Browns show resilience and poise in grinding out snowstorm win over Steelers

CLEVELAND — It wasn’t really supposed to snow, at least not heavily, and it didn’t until the third quarter Thursday night. The Cleveland Browns, four days off a clunker that was embarrassing even by their standards in New Orleans, weren’t supposed to shove around the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers. But this was not a night for forecasting accuracy.

It became a blizzard. And somehow the game went from a slog to a scorefest. After the Browns at least three times took control of the game only to squander the lead, momentum and traction on a field that was becoming slicker by the second, they finally converted a third down for the first time in the final two minutes.

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Two plays later, Nick Chubb scored his second rushing touchdown of the night in the kind of “running weather” he craves. The Browns — despite at times being averse to the run, the timely play, the smart play and covering receivers down the middle of the field — would post one last defensive stand to seal a strange but satisfying win, 24-19.

There was much rejoicing by the fans who stayed. Many had gone home when Jameis Winston threw an interception with 4:22 remaining, and it would have been hard to blame them given the way the Steelers had charged back to erase a 12-point deficit with two scores in under two minutes around the midpoint of the fourth quarter. But those who left missed several clutch plays by Winston and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, then a hell of a celebration in the aftermath.

Browns players made snow angels and then glided into the locker room trying not to slip. In the span of about 15 minutes, the snow had gone from light to fully coating the field.

Even Chubb, who rarely shows emotion of any kind, tapped Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio on the helmet after his first touchdown. He then graciously accepted congratulations from his teammates while heading to the sideline after scoring the game winner.

The Browns are 3-8, and they tried on several occasions to hand this one away, but they were able to drop the Steelers to 8-3 with Chubb — who had his knee shredded in Pittsburgh last September — scoring the first and last touchdowns.

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Winston said.

Chubb had been averaging just 3.1 yards per carry and hadn’t gone over 52 yards or 16 carries in any of the previous four games before rushing 20 times for 59 yards Thursday night. Chubb is still trying to trust his surgically repaired knee at full speed again. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said earlier this week that Cleveland limiting Chubb to 11 carries in New Orleans was done in part because of the short turnaround for Thursday night and one that had extra meaning to Chubb, even if the running back said it didn’t.

Chubb doesn’t say much, ever. He just loves football. After working his way back from injury, he scored touchdown Nos. 50 and 51 of his career, the latter in crossing a goal line that had to be swept between snaps and series as the snow intensified.

“I’ve run out of superlatives for Nick, honestly,” Stefanski said. “He’s my favorite player on the team. You can tell everybody else I said that.”

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The Browns celebrated Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson’s final heave being knocked away as one big, freezingly jovial family. They made up for going 1-of-10 on third downs by going 4-of-4 on fourth downs. Winston looked like he’d be sacked on fourth-and-goal early in the fourth quarter, but he escaped and jumped over the goal line while taking on a would-be tackler. Both teams got sloppy and made some questionable decisions, but Winston wisely kept going back to Jeudy, who’s been a different player since Winston took over.

Myles Garrett sacked Wilson three times in the first half, and though the Browns’ defense later reverted to its habit of giving up big pass plays down the middle of the field, its own wins on fourth down — and a dumbfounding deep pass by Justin Fields on third down in the final four minutes — helped the Browns hang on. With wild swings in a wild snowstorm and both teams appearing to be out of chances at different times, the Browns showed resilience and poise that have been missing at times this season.

“It got a little slick, but we battled through it,” Browns right tackle Jack Conklin said after he held Steelers edge rusher extraordinaire T.J. Watt without a sack or quarterback hit. “Just kind of fun, you know?”

The Browns’ willingness to fight was obvious, and impressive given that the game had much more meaning in the standings for the Steelers. Chubb doesn’t have a contract for next year. Neither does Winston. The Browns don’t have a true left tackle under contract for next year and saw their fourth starter this season, Germain Ifedi, give up a strip-sack to Nick Herbig with 7:10 remaining that led to Pittsburgh taking the lead. But the Browns, even after giving up too many big plays in a short period to go from up 18-6 to down 19-18, found a way to take back a game they looked to have given away.

“It snowed and it wasn’t the best footing, but this is Cleveland, Ohio,” Winston said. “This is football, right? This is what you live and dream … you pray for an environment like this and you just hope for a win. We got the win.”

Browns defensive tackle Maurice Hurst II, who made a solo tackle on one of the Browns’ fourth-down stops, credited Cleveland’s equipment staff for keeping the team ready to take on the elements. He said the Browns were instructed to wear “seven-studs,” a type of cleat with seven grippers that are made for slippery conditions. Hurst joked that he owed Jeudy a hug, but not necessarily because the receiver kept the team moving late in the game.

“Jerry is from Florida, so he’s probably cold from all the snow,” Hurst said. “He came up huge tonight. A lot of guys did. We’ve been saying we can be a great team and our record doesn’t show that, so it was good to see everybody locked in to help us finish one.”

About 15 minutes after it ended, Winston emerged from the locker room to head for the spotlight and an interview on the Amazon broadcast set. He was singing the Christmas classic “Jingle Bells” in a way only Winston can.

It snowed in Cleveland in March on the day Winston came to the facility to take a physical and sign his contract, and that was a big deal to his young sons, who had lived in Florida and Louisiana. They sang “Jingle Bells” when they saw the snow that day, and again Thursday morning on their way to school, Winston said. So Winston sang it joyously and loudly late Thursday night.

What the future holds for Winston or the Browns remains unknown. But what he and the team did on a slippery field in the fourth quarter versus the hated Steelers Thursday night is the kind of stuff that lives forever in Cleveland. It’s the kind of stuff you sing about.

Jingle all the way.

(Photo: Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)