Browns 27, Steelers 24: Szmyt Wins It From 56

October 1, 2026 - Cleveland - The kick left the ground from 56 yards with 10 seconds on the clock. Huntington Bank Field got quiet, then loud. Andre Szmyt split the uprights, and the Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 on Thursday night.

Cleveland is 3-1. Pittsburgh is 2-2. The Browns have won three straight and sit first in the AFC North, at least until Sunday. Szmyt had already hit from 44. This one was farther, and it was the one that counted.

Deshaun Watson went 24 of 33 for 268 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He ran seven times for 22. Aaron Rodgers went 22 of 40 for 299 yards, three scores, and two picks. Cleveland sacked him five times. The last throw of the night landed in Grant Delpit's hands at the Browns 18.

7-0 the long way, then Ward flipped it

Pittsburgh ate the first quarter. Seventeen plays, 73 yards, 9:48 off the clock, per the Browns. Rodgers flipped a 12-yard score to Roman Wilson, who came in motion and finished around the left edge. Chris Boswell made the extra point. 7-0, 2:59 left in the first. Cleveland had run seven plays for 31 yards on two drives. The Steelers looked like the team that had come to win a physical AFC North night.

The second quarter opened with the play that changed the tape. Denzel Ward intercepted Rodgers on a ball meant for Michael Pittman at the Cleveland 44. Todd Monken said Ward flipped it. He did.

Four plays later, Jaleel McLaughlin took it around right end for 28 yards. He broke two tackles near the 22, found a lane at the 15, and tied the game at 7 with 12:14 left in the half. It was his only carry. It was enough.

Cleveland forced a three-and-out. Watson hit Denzel Boston for 60 yards on the first snap of the next drive. Three plays later, Quinshon Judkins walked in from 2 yards. 14-7, 8:28 left. Boston finished with four catches for 89. Judkins ran 17 times for 53 and caught six for 43.

The Browns kept the ball. Eleven plays, 62 yards. Watson found Harold Fannin Jr. from 2 yards on third-and-goal with 1:22 left. 21-7. Fannin had scored the week before. This was his second straight game in the end zone. Cleveland's second-quarter line, per the club, was 191 yards and three touchdowns on 20 plays. It was the first time since Week 13 of 2020 against Tennessee that the Browns had scored at least 21 in a second quarter.

Boswell got Pittsburgh on the board from 31 yards with 8 seconds left in the half. 21-10. He had already missed from 48 after Isaiah McGuire sacked Rodgers on third-and-4.

A strip at midfield that went nowhere

The third quarter was empty on the scoreboard and loud on the defensive line. T.J. Watt stripped Watson on a read-option and recovered it at the 50. Pittsburgh had a new set of downs at midfield and still punted. Mike Hall Jr. sacked Rodgers on third-and-15 after that fumble and pushed the Steelers out of field-goal range. Hall had left late in the second with a right ankle, then came back. Mason Graham left in the first with a left knee and did not return. Pittsburgh lost Derrick Harmon (foot, carted off) and Jamel Dean (ankle) in the second quarter.

The comeback started with a tipped ball. Jack Sawyer got a finger on a Watson pass early in the fourth. Robert Spears-Jennings intercepted it for the first pick of his career after Mike McCarthy challenged a pass-interference call on Daylen Everette. The flag came off. Pittsburgh had the ball.

Rodgers hit DK Metcalf for 43 yards on a dive. Metcalf finished with five catches for 115. Then Rodgers rolled and found Darnell Washington from 21 yards. 21-16, 10:10 left. The two-point try, a completion to Jaylen Warren, failed.

Szmyt answered from 44 after seven plays. 24-16, 6:37 left. Pittsburgh still had an answer. A defensive pass-interference call on Washington put the ball at the 3 with 1:46 remaining, per the Browns. Rodgers threw a 3-yard score to Pat Freiermuth. Then he sneaked the two-pointer. 24-24, 1:42 left. Warren had 17 carries for 93 and three catches for 33. He never found the end zone. Rodgers found three tight ends and Wilson instead.

Forty-six yards, then 56

Watson went 4 of 5 for 46 yards on the last drive, including two catches to Jerry Jeudy for 27, per the AP. A sack for a 4-yard loss with 19 seconds left put the ball at the Steelers 38. It did not matter. Szmyt told Watson he would hit it from anywhere. He hit it from 56. Cameron Heyward said Pittsburgh needed better execution in those weighty moments. He was talking about getting off the field. They did not.

Delpit picked Rodgers on the Hail Mary. Cleveland's night was over. The Browns finished with 372 yards to Pittsburgh's 361, matching the AP and club wraps. nflverse weekly lines have the same 27-24 final. ESPN's scoreboard does too.

Cleveland has won eight straight Thursday night games, the longest active streak, per the AP. Four of those have come against the Steelers. Pittsburgh is 0-10 on the road against AFC North clubs on Thursdays. Five straight losses in this building now. Watson has led a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter in three straight weeks. Monken called that cool for him and the team, then complained about the last sack.

AthX Engine after a 56-yard kick

AthX Engine NFL scoring already has the Week 4 Thursday lines in. Spears-Jennings' interception lands at 56.50, the top total in this game because the IDP card pays a defensive back 30 points for a pick. Delpit is 48.00. Ward is 45.00. Watt's sack, forced fumble, and recovery are 41.00. Maliek Collins is 40.00 on a sack. Rodgers is 39.92. Judkins and Warren are both 33.00. Szmyt's two field goals and three extra points are 26.00. Cleveland's team line is 65.50.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what traders will pay for a Browns club that keeps winning Thursday nights, and for a Steelers offense that threw for 299 and still left Cleveland with the ball. They move together. They are not the same number.

Track Szmyt, Judkins, Rodgers, Metcalf, and both clubs on the marketplace. Cleveland visits the Jets on Oct. 11. Pittsburgh hosts Indianapolis the same afternoon.

*Sources: ESPN scoreboard and recap, Browns.com, Steelers.com, AP recap (CBS). AthX Engine Week 4 lines scored from nflverse weekly stats (CC-BY 4.0). Information only; not financial advice.*