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Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes to Antonio Brown while James Conner scored a pair of touchdowns as the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns 33-18 Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field. The performances by Pittsburgh's dynamic trio brought some temporary solace to Pittsburgh's fans after 11 people were killed in a shooting at the nearby Tree of Life Synagogue on Saturday. A moment of silence was observed before kickoff.
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Pittsburgh (4-2-1) overcame a sluggish start and several mistakes to record their 15th straight home win over Cleveland (2-5-1), which dropped its 25th straight road game -- one shy of the league record.
Roethlisberger hooked up with Brown on scoring passes of 43 yards and one yard in the second quarter after Cleveland took a 6-0 lead. Conner finished with 146 yards and scored on touchdowns of 12 and 22 yards.
Roethlisberger completed 24-of-36 passes for 257 yards. His second score to Brown gave him 343 career passing touchdowns, moving him one past Fran Tarkenton into sole possession of eighth place in NFL history.
It also was the 67th time Roethlisberger and Brown teamed up, tied for seventh-most in NFL history.
Conner rushed 24 times for 146 yards while Brown caught six passes for 74 yards. Conner also had five catches for 66 yards.
Cleveland rookie Baker Mayfield threw a pair of touchdowns but could not lead the Browns to their first win in Pittsburgh since 2003. He finished 22-of-36 for 180 yards.
The Browns settled for two field goals by Greg Joseph before Pittsburgh took the lead.
On a first down, Brown capped an 87-yard drive that spanned 7:12. Brown then scored on a short touchdown with eight seconds left and the Steelers never looked back.
Before Pittsburgh went ahead, it did not get a first down and was outgained 119-16 in the first quarter. Cleveland was unable to capitalize, failing to score a touchdown on three trips inside Pittsburgh's 27-yard line and Joseph missed a 41-yard field goal that could have given Cleveland a 9-0 lead.
After Pittsburgh recorded a safety with 8:07 left in the third, Callaway caught a 1-yard touchdown but Joseph missed the extra point. Conner scored his first touchdown less than three minutes later and got his second score after a 42-yard field goal by Chris Boswell early in the fourth.
