The Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t get the job done on a short week in Cleveland and they fell to the Browns 24-19 on a wintry night. Once again the offense struggled to find the end zone going more than three quarters until finding pay dirt. Despite overcoming a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Steelers couldn’t hold on to squeak out a win. despite having so many other numbers on their side.

So without further ado, here are some of the numbers involved in the Steelers Week 12 loss to the Browns.

+2

If someone were to tell me the Steelers were going to lose on Thursday Night Football against the Browns in Cleveland, I would assume that they lost the turnover battle. But this was not the case. Not only did the Steelers not lose it, they won it decisively as they had three takeaways compared to the Browns one. While there were other factors that acted much like takeaways, they will be discussed later. Even though the Steelers did lose a fumble which led to a Cleveland field goal, the Steelers had two fumble recoveries and an interception of their own. And while one of those turnovers was turned into a touchdown, the other two netted no points and only one total first down.

3

In another anomaly, if someone were to tell me the Steelers did not punt the ball in the first half, I would assume they either scored a lot of points or had a lot of turnovers. But this also was not the case. The Steelers only scored 3 points in the first half against the Browns despite gaining 163 yards which equated to 5.4 yards per play. The Steelers did have their one turnover in the first half, but simply not putting points on the board early in the game came back to hurt them.

1

Coming into the game, the Cleveland Browns had surrendered the most sacks of any NFL team. Unfortunately, the Steelers could not take advantage of the glaring weakness of the Browns offense. Despite throwing 27 passes, the Steelers only managed one sack in the game which happened to be a strip sack by Nick Herbig which led to a takeaway and a Steelers touchdown. So the Steelers did the most they could with their one sack, they simply didn’t have enough of them.

+10:04

There were a lot of categories where the Steelers dominated in this game yet still came up short on the scoreboard. Not only did they win the turnover battle, they also had a huge advantage in time of possession. The Steelers held the ball for more than 10 minutes longer than the Browns as they had 35:02 time of possession compared to the Browns 24:58. The Steelers possessed the ball for more than 4:00 on five different drives compared to only two for the Browns. But even with a big advantage in the number of these drives, the Brown still out scored them 15 to 13 in those 4:00 drives.

+58

Another stat where the Steelers have the advantage was in total yards gained. The Steelers had 368 net yards of offense compared to the Browns 340 yards. The Steelers out rushed the Browns 120 yards to 85 yards and had more net passing yards of 248 to 219.

43% vs. 10%

Another key metric where the Steelers held a decisive advantage was third down conversions. The Steelers converted 7 of 16 third downs for a 43% conversion rate where the Browns only converted 1 of 10 first downs for a 10% conversion rate. Unfortunately, the Browns lone third down conversion is what set up their game-winning score. The Steelers were 50% on third down in the first half where they went 4 of 8 yet only yielded 3 points. In the second half the Steelers were only 3 for 8.

41 vs. 30

Part of the reason the Browns were able to put up more points than the Steelers despite losing the time of possession and yardage was an advantage in starting position. The average starting position for the Browns was their own 41-yard line and they had three different possessions which started on the Steelers side of the field. As for the Steelers, their average starting position was their own 30-yard line and only began a drive in Cleveland territory one time in the game which they turned into a touchdown.

15

Looking specifically at one of the times the Browns had the ball starting on the Steelers side of the field was the Steelers lone punt of the night which traveled only 15 yards. Giving the ball to Cleveland at the Pittsburgh 45 with 3:22 remaining, an extra 20 to 30 yards on the punt would have likely run even more time off the clock and made Cleveland’s task of taking the lead more difficult. But it’s more than just one play…

1/3 vs. 4/4

What was likely the most decisive stat of the night was the team‘s fourth down conversion rates. The Steelers went for it on fourth down three times and only were successful on one attempt. While the Browns were held in check on third down all night until their final opportunity, they were perfect on fourth down on four attempts, allowing them to extend drives.

0

Despite the Steelers winning so many statistical categories, this zero is the only thing that matters. The Steelers were not victorious in Cleveland on a short week and did not add their ninth tally to the win column. Instead, the Steelers have to sit on a loss through their extended break and regroup for two more AFC North matchups in the next two games.

So there are some numbers to help put the Steelers Week 12 loss in perspective. The Steelers now have extra time to dwell on things before traveling to Cincinnati in 10 days.

So what numbers from Sunday’s game stand out to you? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.