The Pittsburgh Steelers took down the Cleveland Browns during their most recent game in Week 14 as they won the contest 27-14. The Steelers had a few special guests in attendance at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday, as both Ben Roethlisberger and James Harrison were sitting together in a suite to watch their former team take on the Browns. The game was pretty tight early on, with the Steelers even trailing at one point. Pittsburgh was able to break the game open in the second half as they began to dominate Cleveland.
Early on in the game it seemed like the Pittsburgh defense may have some trouble slowing down Jameis Winston and the Browns' offense, but eventually the defense returned to its dominant form. On the most recent episode of Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger, the former quarterback spoke about watching the game with his former teammate. He said that Harrison had figured out a tell within the Browns' offense, and he was getting angry that the Steelers players didn't know about it.
"He [Harrison] was calling every single play that the Browns ran, run or pass," Roethlisberger recalled. "Every play. And he started getting fired up. I don't want to air anybody out, but he could look at somebody on the offense, and they had a tell. He was 100 percent accurate. He looked at me and I think he was dead serious, 'How can I get on the phone down there to those guys?'"
Harrison was always an intense player, and it seems like he is just as intense as a fan. Roethlisberger spoke about how Harrison was getting animated in the suite, and he was getting frustrated that the players down on the field could not figure out what he had. It's not often that players in the NFL tip their plays, but Harrison certainly found a weakness in the Browns on Sunday.
Roethlisberger recalled that Harrison was correctly guessing every offensive play for the Browns throughout the game, and he wanted to find a way to communicate that to the Pittsburgh sideline. The former defender was even doing it in the fourth quarter while the Steelers were up three scores on the Browns. Roethlisberger gave Harrison a solution to his problem during the second quarter.
"I said, 'James, text TJ [Watt], he may check his phone at halftime. Text one of the equipment guys, tell them to tell them,'" Roethlisberger said.
TJ Watt seemed to have the Browns' offense figured out in his own right, but it would have been interesting had he gotten a text from his former teammates at halftime giving him the keys to the Cleveland offense. It's unknown if something like that has ever happened in the NFL before, but it sounds like it would be illegal and some form of cheating.
Steelers Still Dominated The Browns Without James Harrison's Secret
While Harrison's information would have been helpful to the Steelers' defense, the unit was still able to dominate the Browns. The Browns found the end zone in the first half, but the Steelers were able to keep their offense off of the field mostly in the second half. Throughout the game, the Steelers were able to take the ball away from the Browns three times, twice picking off Winston, while also recovering a muffed punt.
Pittsburgh's offense struggled to start the game, but they broke the game open in the second half. The Steelers acquired a 20-point lead going into the fourth quarter, and the Browns scored a late touchdown to make the game seem closer than it actually was. After suffering a heartbreaking loss to the Browns in the first matchup of the season just a few weeks ago, Pittsburgh was able to bounce back strongly.
