Appearing in their first playoff game in 18 years, it didn’t take the Cleveland Browns long to write their names into the record books.
The Browns capitalized on a steady dose of Pittsburgh Steelers errors en route to becoming the first team in NFL post-season history to score 35 first-half points on the road.
Cleveland’s record-setting performance started almost immediately. On the game’s initial play, a Steelers centre snapped the ball over the head of his quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. A scramble for the ball ensued and Cleveland’s Karl Joseph recovered it in the end zone, giving the Browns a 7-0 lead just 14 seconds into the wild-card game.
Moments later, another Pittsburgh gaffe set up a second touchdown. Roethlisberger floated a high, short pass that was picked off by Cleveland’s M.J. Stewart Jr., and a mere three plays later, the Browns capitalized.
But Cleveland wasn’t done there. This time, the Browns got the ball back on a Steelers punt instead of a turnover, but the ultimate result was the same — this time with Kareem Hunt bulldozing his way into the endzone.
By the end of the first quarter, the Browns had built a 28-0 lead, the largest in a single quarter of play in a post-season game since the AFL and NFL merged in 1970.
