By the Numbers

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Denzel Ward earns a pass defensed on the final play of Week 17 win | By the Numbers

Cleveland held Pittsburgh to zero second half points

Dec 28, 2025 at 06:09 PM

Noah Monroe

Staff Writer Intern

Browns Steelers By the Numbers 12.28 article

The Browns had four downs and 10 yards to stop the Steelers from scoring to tie the game with 32 seconds left in the game.

With each pass play Pittsburgh employed to score, the Browns stopped. Cleveland forced three consecutive incompletions to hold Pittsburgh out of the end zone. The Browns shut out the Steelers in the second half and won 13-6 to earn their first AFC North victory of the season.

Here are 10 key numbers from the Week 17 matchup.

0 – The Steelers tried to throw the ball three times on fourth down, converting zero of the attempts. Pittsburgh's first attempt came with 2:50 left in the second quarter. With the Steelers facing a fourth-and-1 from Cleveland's 22-yard line, QB Aaron Rodgers threw a pass to WR Scotty Miller that sailed out of the end zone.

The Steelers' second and third attempts came in the fourth quarter as they tried to come back. With 2:02 remaining in the game and on their own 20-yard line, the Steelers tried to extend the drive. Rodgers again targeted Miller just for DT Shelby Harris to tip the ball at the line of scrimmage, forcing the ball to fall incomplete. Pittsburgh received another possession and moved down the field all the way to the Cleveland 7-yard line before throwing two incomplete passes to face a fourth-and-7. Rodgers targeted WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, but he couldn't complete the catch.

1 – CB Denzel Ward finished the game with one pass defensed that was a result of the last play of the Steelers' final offensive possession. After Rodgers targeted Valdes-Scantling on second and third down and Ward forced an incompletion on both plays, Rodgers tried to find the wideout again. Ward leapt up to force the incompletion, earning the pass defensed.

3 – The Browns forced three fumbles against the Steelers in Week 17. LB Devin Bush made RB Jaylen Warren fumble on the Steelers' first offensive play from scrimmage, but T Dylan Cook recovered the fumble. During Pittsburgh's first possession in the second half, the Browns created fumbles on back-to-back plays. S Grant Delpit sacked Rodgers and forced him to lose control of the ball, but Rodgers pushed the ball to TE Jonnu Smith to avoid losing possession. Valdes-Scantling then had the ball punched out by S Rayshawn Jenkins on the next play. Valdes-Scantling was able to recover his own fumble while on the ground, denying Cleveland its final chance at a fumble recovery.

6 – The Steelers scored six points in the game, their season-low. K Chris Boswell scored all six points for Pittsburgh, making a 40- and 44-yard field goal at the beginning and end of the second quarter. Pittsburgh didn't score any points in the second half as the Browns held on to their lead.

7 – K Andre Szmyt led the Browns in scoring with seven points as he made both of his field goal attempts. He nailed a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter to give the Browns a 3-0 lead and extended Cleveland's lead to 13-6 with a 33-yard field goal with 1:40 left in the game. Szmyt also made his sole extra point of the game after a touchdown by TE Harold Fannin Jr. Szmyt has made 22 of his 25 field goal attempts and 23 of his 24 extra point attempts this season. He also has not missed a kick since Week 8 against the Patriots.