NFL Thursday NIght Review.

Despite An Efficient Start From Russell Wilson The Steelers, Touchdown Woes Continue As Multiple First Half Drives Return Void Points, And The Steelers Despite Out Playing The Browns enter Half Time Down 10-3. 

A Deluge  Of Explosive Plays, Including A 30 Yard Run From Justin Fields, And Slew Of Browns Fourth Quarter Turn Overs Help The Steelers Over  A two Score Deficit 

In Less Than Six Minutes In The Fourth. A Two Touchdown Game From Nick Chubb, Some Passing Heroics From Jameis Winston Help The Browns Over Their Shortcomings, And a Late Steelers Surge To Escape With A 24-19 Over The First Place Steelers. 

Before The Loss, The Steelers Controlled Their Fate In Pursuit Of The First Seed In The AFC Playoff Picture. If The Steelers Won Out Including A Matchup With the Chiefs They Get The Number One Seed and The Bye In The Playoffs, Three Losses Don't Eliminate Them from Reaching That Spot But Now They’ll Need Help. The Browns With Nothing To Play For Not Even Pride In Some Respects Show Up On A Thursday With Jameis Winston Brandishing The Fiath Of A Mustard Seed a Pull Off Another Division Upset. 

The Browns Converted Just One Third Down All Game And That Came On The Final drive Of The Game facing A 3rd And Six From Winston To Jerry Jeudy To Win The Game. The Browns Lost The Turnover Battle, Time Of Possession, and Offensive Yardage But Went 3/4 In The Red Zone and 4/4 On Fourth Down. 

 For The Steelers Russell Wilson 21/28 For 270 Passing Yards One Touchdown, Most Of His Yardage Coming On Five Plays As Wilson Continues To Perform As A Boom Or Bust Style Quarterback. Wilson can Get The Steelers In Position To score but Without The Mobility Of His Youth He’s Less Effective In Tight Quarters Of the Red Zone Where Moon Balls Don’t Work and His Inability To Throw Over The Middle Becomes Insurmountable. Wilson teams Need A Strong Run And While The Steelers Had Moments Too Many Of Najee Harris’s Runs  Featured Him Trapped In The Back Field With Bodies Of Defenders Rolling Up Over Him.  The Steelers’ Offense Attempted To Mesh Justin Fields Into The Game Plan For a Series Or Two. He’s The Stronger Mobile Threat And In Theory, Fields Made Sense But In Operation  His presence Would alter the Rhythm Of The Offense And I Don’t Think That Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith Can Consistently Deploy That Schematic Approach.

After An 8-2 Start The Memory  Of The Steelers Quarterback Controversy Feels Faint Now That Russell Wilson Has Assumed authority  Of the offense Even After Failing To Put Pittsburgh  In The End Zone Last Week against Baltimore. Wilson Produces a Strong Close To His Season In Denver But Questions Lingered If He Could Still Lead A team to the Playoffs Or Winning Record. The Steelers Also Traded For The Young Enigmatic Horse Power Talent Of Justin Fields Even With Wilson Fully Implanted As The Starter The Argument Still Pervades Social Media Whether Which Starts, Yards, Or Touchdown Efficiency Matter More. The Steelers Have Played Themselves Out Of The Wild Card Frontier, Into the Field Of Another Winning Season For Mike Tomlin, And In Range To Over Throw The Chiefs For The Number One Seed But First Taking Care Of The Division of the Cleveland Browns. 

Before Game Reports Surfaced That The Browns Intended To Retain Head Coach Kevin Stefanski Despite A Down Season. The Two Time Coach Of The Year—A Feat Thought UNFATHOMABLE a Decade Ago—Has Suffered Through a Down Year, Well Below The Expectations of The Team A Season Ago And He’s Had To Manage The Debacle Of Deshaun Watson’s Career and The Drama That Entails. Stefanski Lead The Browns To The Playoffs After The Browns Charged Him To Manage Baker Mayfield’s Career Before Taking On The Undertaking Of Deshaun Watson And Now Back With Another First Round  First Pick Quarterback Jameis Winston. The First Quarter’s Offense Played Out Like Much Of The Steelers' Time With Russell Wilson at Quarterback Demonstrating His Chief Ability and his Limitations. Wilson connected On Two Explosive Plays one For 31 Yards To George Pickens And Another To Calvin Austin For 46 Yards Wilson Started The Game 10/10 128 Yards. Wilson Would Fumble On The Steelers Final Drive Before The Half But Despite Those Sudden Shifts IN Field Position The Steeler come away With Just Three Points On A Chris Boswell Field Goal. The Steelers Had More Success Picking Up Touchdowns With Fields But An easier Time Moving The Ball with Wilson, on A 4th and Two Who Gets Sacks After The Big Pickens Play. The Calvin Austin Drive Gets Stymied and The Steelers Settle For A Field Goal. Boswell Missed A Field Goal Ok The Steelers First Drive. The Browns Took A 10-3 Leas Into The Half After Running back Nick Chubb Caps Off A 12 Play 80 Yard Drove With A One Yard Touchdown. Cleveland’s Defense Has Fallen Off But Myles Garrett Reminded The Football World He’s Still among the Best with Three First Half Sacks, And A Forced Fumble On Russell Wilson Which The Browns Then Convert Into A Field Goal. The Steelers would force a fumble out of the half after Browns receiver Cedric Tillman picked up a big 24-yard gain and Tried to push for more yards but fumbled. The Steelers Fail to Capitalize on  The Next Drive. Despite A Difficult  Play From Running back Jalen Warren Who Catches A Short pass, Gets Contacted But On Balance To Give The Steelers A Short Fourth and One. The Brown Run Defense Outside Of One Or Two Runs Kept The Browns and the Steelers From Running From  Extending Drives. The Steelers Would Down To The Red Zone In The Third Quarter Again Sparked By Russell Wilson And The Deep Pass 35 Yards To Van Jefferson.  Despite Extending the Drive Into The Red Zone By Converting A Fourth Down The Steelers Settle for A Field Goal. The Brown Would Pick Up Their Second Touchdown of The Game Early In The Fourth As Jameis Winston Scramble On 4th Goal from The Two Point Conversion To Tight end David Njoku. The Browns Get Two Fourth Down Conversions Including, The Touchdown and a 4 Yard Run From Nick Chubb. Big Plays From Tight ends Jordan Akins(18 Yards) And Blake Whiteheart(29 Yards) Set The Browns Up To Score an 18-6 Lead. The Browns Lead and win Probability  Would Shrink In Three Drives. Feeling The Need For A Change Of Pace The Steelers Plug In Justin Fields, His 30 Yard Design Run Sets Up A Jaylen Warren three Yard Touchdown. The Referee Hit The Browns Defense With two Penalties One A Roughing Call That Gave The Steelers an Extra 15 Yards, And a Unsportsmanlike Penalty  That Gave The Browns a New Set On Downs Inside The Ten and Cut The Lead 13-18. The Steelers Would Catch A Break When Sack Of Jameis Winston Would Result In Fumble. On The Quick Turnaround Russell Wilson Who Missed An Early  Deep Shot To George Pickens' ambit Hit Receiver Calvin Austin for 23 Yards and a Lead of 19-18. The Brown Had One More Drive Left With Just a Little Over Three Minutes Left In The Game Winston Would Complete 3 Of His Last 4 Passes Including A 15 Yard Connection To Jerry Jeudy To Convert A Massive 3rd And Six. Two Nick Chubb Runs Later And The Browns Would Assume The Lead And Ultimately  The 24-19 Victory. Before The 3rd and sixth conversions, The Browns Faced a 3rd and One In Which Steelers Pressure Forced Winston To Throw Away A Ditch Pass that his Offensive Lineman touched Encruing A Five Yard illegal Touching  Penalty and Negating A Potential 15 Yard Intentional Grounding Call Giving Winston And The Browns a better Shot At Converting A Winning. The Browns Converted One Of ten On Third But 4-4 On Fourth down.  jameis Winston 18/27 For 219 Passing Yards, One Interception But Unflappable In The Face Of Pressure. Jerry Jeudy 6 Catches 85 Yards. Nick Chubb 20 Carries For 59 With Two Touchdowns.

Myles Garrett's Three Sacks and The Secondary Perform Well Enough To Keep George Pickens For Going Off.   The Loss Prevented The Steelers From Closing The Steelers Curtain  Over The Division Leaving Some Breathing Room

for The Ravens To Creep Back Into The Picture.