Browns take first place in AFC North with late field goal

Andre Szmyt drilled a 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left, the longest kick of his two-year career, and it held up. Read more: Browns take first place in AFC North with late field goal 

The Browns beat the Steelers 27-24 on Thursday night at Huntington Bank Field, taking sole possession of first place in the AFC North.

Cleveland is 3-1. Pittsburgh is 2-2, and the division lead now belongs to the team that led by 14 points in the second quarter and still needed a 56-yard field goal to keep it.

The winning kick came at the end of a seven-play, 36-yard drive, set up after Pittsburgh had just erased a two-score deficit of its own.

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Aaron Rodgers found tight end Pat Freiermuth for a 3-yard touchdown with 1:42 left, then ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game at 24. Cleveland needed only one more push, and it was enough for Szmyt to finish it.

Pittsburgh got the ball back with time for one more play. Rodgers' pass never had a chance. Safety Grant Delpit stepped in front of it for the interception that sealed the win.

Browns surge before halftime

Pittsburgh scored first, an easy 12-yard touchdown throw from Rodgers to Roman Wilson in the opening quarter. Cleveland answered by taking the ball away. Cornerback Denzel Ward intercepted Rodgers, giving Cleveland the ball at its own 44, and four plays later Jaleel McLaughlin ran 28 yards for a touchdown to tie it.

The Browns kept scoring. A 60-yard catch-and-run from rookie receiver Denzel Boston set up a short touchdown run from Quinshon Judkins, and Harold Fannin Jr. added another score before the half. Chris Boswell's field goal was the only answer Pittsburgh had, and Cleveland led 21-10 at the break.

The third quarter went scoreless. Watson fumbled and Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt recovered it, one of two Cleveland turnovers on the night.

The win gives the Browns sole possession of the AFC North at 3-1, half a game ahead of Baltimore and Cincinnati, both sitting at 2-1. Pittsburgh drops to 2-2 and loses the early division edge it built by beating Cincinnati in Week 3.

Under coach Mike Tomlin, the Steelers still have not won a Thursday night road game against a division opponent, and this loss keeps that run going.

Two Pittsburgh defensive starters, cornerback Jamel Dean and defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, left the game in the first half and did not return, thinning a unit that had just given up 21 unanswered points.

Cleveland coach Todd Monken did not hesitate when it came time to trust his kicker from 56 yards. "He said he could make it. I said, go kick it and make it," Monken said.

Szmyt's kick sailed through the Cleveland night with room to spare, the only measure that mattered in the AFC North this week.