|
Cleveland
Browns...
Turnovers,
penalties costly to Steelers
browns.com
The Steelers committed eight turnovers and nine penalties for 68 yards
in a 20-14 loss to the Cleveland Browns Sunday.
The Steelers committed eight turnovers and the Browns were able to
capitalize enough for a 20-14 win.
“I’m surprised it was that close considering the turnover situation,”
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.
The Steelers also had eight turnovers against the Browns on Sept. 10,
1989 at Three Rivers Stadium. Pittsburgh lost that one 51-0, still its
most lopsided defeat in history.
That game 23 years ago was over early. Sunday’s contest was not over
until the final gun.
“We had a chance to win when we got the ball with nine and then five
minutes left, and we weren’t able to do it; I put that on my
shoulders,” said 37-year-old Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch, who
was pressed into duty because of injuries to Ben Roethlisberger and
Byron Leftwich and hit on just 20 of 34 passes for 199 yards and no
touchdowns with three interceptions for a 37.8 rating.
The Steelers also fumbled eight times and lost five of them, all by
running backs.
Tomlin was especially upset about that. Although he said Batch’s
performance was “not good enough,” he knew the quarterback would be
rusty. So the Steelers came in with a plan to run the ball and take the
pressure off Batch to make plays, but they couldn’t depend on that
because of the running backs’ ball security issues. Pittsburgh gained
just 49 yards rushing in 20 carries.
“We’ve got to get back to work, and get back to playing fundamental
football,” Tomlin said. “We were highly penalized (nine times for 68
yards) and we turned the ball over, and when you do those things, you
are going to lose. I don’t care who is playing quarterback.”
Will Roethlisberger, who is battling shoulder and rib problems, play
next Sunday when the Steelers visit the AFC North-leading Baltimore
Ravens?
“I honestly don’t know if I’ll be ready,” Roethlisberger said after the
game. “We’ll evaluate it every day.”
At 6-5 and with two straight losses, the Steelers are three games
behind the Ravens (9-2) with only five games left.
“It hurt us, obviously, to lose today,” Roethlisberger said. “But we’ll
find a way.”
Added Batch, “We have no margin for error now. We haven’t talked about
that as a team, but obviously, we realize it.”
For this story and more, go to Cleveland Browns
|
|
|
|
