Game recap

Steelers @ Browns

2026 Wk 4 · CLE 27, PIT 24

Pittsburgh rallied from 11 down to tie it late, then Andre Szmyt won it with a 56-yard kick at :15.

FanIQ Research · October 4, 2026 · 5 facts, every one from the play-by-play

Andre Szmyt's 56-yard winner: his second 55-plus go-ahead kick in a final minute, a club only Justin Tucker and Matt Bryant share

Rare

Pittsburgh had tied the game 24-24 with 1:46 left. Deshaun Watson moved Cleveland from its own 26 to the Pittsburgh 34, a sack pushed it back to the 38, and on fourth-and-8 with 15 seconds left Szmyt hit from 56 yards. It was the longest field goal of his career in the database. Since 1999 kickers have made a 55-yard or longer field goal in the last minute of the fourth quarter with their team tied or down two or fewer 32 times, and only three kickers have done it more than once: Tucker three times, Bryant twice, and Szmyt twice, the first a 55-yarder against Green Bay with two seconds left in Week 3 of 2025.

Kickers with 2+ go-ahead 55+ yard FGs in the final minute of a 4th quarter, 1999-2026

Kicker	Kicks	Season, team, yards
Justin Tucker	3	2013 BAL 61; 2020 BAL 55; 2021 BAL 66
Matt Bryant	2	2006 TB 62; 2012 ATL 55
Andre Szmyt	2	2025 CLE 55; 2026 CLE 56

Longest Cleveland made field goals, 1999-2026

Season	Week	Game	Yards
2022	1	CLE @ CAR	58
2023	7	CLE @ IND	58
2021	3	CHI @ CLE	57
2008	11	CLE @ BUF	56
2024	4	CLE @ LV	56
2026	4	PIT @ CLE	56

Why it matters. The kick was worth 21.8 points of win probability, the largest swing of any play in the game, and it came after Cleveland's drive had stalled: a sack at the Pittsburgh 38 and a third-down incompletion left a 56-yard try as the only way to win in regulation. Szmyt is in his second season in the database and already has two of the 32 kicks, the same count Bryant reached over a much longer career.

Five straight Cleveland home wins over Pittsburgh, the Browns' longest such run since 1999

Milestone

Pittsburgh won 11 of its first 13 trips to Cleveland in the database, from 1999 through 2011. Since 2022 the Steelers have lost five straight there, by 12, 3, 5, 7 and now 3 points. Before this run Cleveland's best home streak in the series was two games, 2019 and 2020.

Steelers at Browns, every meeting in Cleveland since 1999

Season	Score	Winner
1999	PIT 43, CLE 0	PIT
2000	CLE 23, PIT 20	CLE
2001	PIT 15, CLE 12	PIT
2002	PIT 23, CLE 20	PIT
2003	PIT 13, CLE 6	PIT
2004	PIT 24, CLE 10	PIT
2005	PIT 41, CLE 0	PIT
2006	PIT 24, CLE 20	PIT
2007	PIT 34, CLE 7	PIT
2008	PIT 10, CLE 6	PIT
2009	CLE 13, PIT 6	CLE
2010	PIT 41, CLE 9	PIT
2011	PIT 13, CLE 9	PIT
2012	CLE 20, PIT 14	CLE
2013	PIT 27, CLE 11	PIT
2014	CLE 31, PIT 10	CLE
2015	PIT 28, CLE 12	PIT
2016	PIT 24, CLE 9	PIT
2017	PIT 21, CLE 18	PIT
2018	CLE 21, PIT 21	Tie
2019	CLE 21, PIT 7	CLE
2020	CLE 24, PIT 22	CLE
2021	PIT 15, CLE 10	PIT
2022	CLE 29, PIT 17	CLE
2023	CLE 13, PIT 10	CLE
2024	CLE 24, PIT 19	CLE
2025	CLE 13, PIT 6	CLE
2026	CLE 27, PIT 24	CLE

Why it matters. This is a home-field split, not a series swing: Pittsburgh won 2024 and 2025 at home against Cleveland by 13 and 14 points. The Cleveland games have been tight and low-scoring, with four of the five wins in this run decided by seven points or fewer and three of the five losing Pittsburgh totals at 17 or below. This one was the highest-scoring of the five by 5 points.

Pittsburgh erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit, tied it with 1:46 left, and still lost

Trend

Cleveland scored 21 points in the second quarter to lead 21-10 at halftime, and neither team scored in the third. Pittsburgh then scored two touchdowns in the fourth, a 21-yard Aaron Rodgers pass to Darnell Washington (two-point try failed) and a 3-yard pass to Pat Freiermuth with 1:46 left, followed by a Rodgers two-point run, to tie it at 24. Szmyt's 56-yard kick came 91 seconds later. Since 1999 a team trailing by 11 or more at some point in a fourth quarter has drawn level 488 times in 4,303 tries; 145 of those, like Pittsburgh, got even without ever taking the lead and lost.

Scoring plays

Qtr	Clock	Team	Play	Score after
1	3:03	PIT	Rodgers 12-yd TD pass to R.Wilson	PIT 7, CLE 0
2	12:22	CLE	McLaughlin 28-yd TD run	PIT 7, CLE 7
2	8:33	CLE	Judkins 2-yd TD run	CLE 14, PIT 7
2	1:25	CLE	Watson 2-yd TD pass to Fannin	CLE 21, PIT 7
2	0:12	PIT	Boswell 31-yd FG	CLE 21, PIT 10
4	10:16	PIT	Rodgers 21-yd TD pass to Washington, 2-pt failed	CLE 21, PIT 16
4	6:42	CLE	Szmyt 44-yd FG	CLE 24, PIT 16
4	1:46	PIT	Rodgers 3-yd TD pass to Freiermuth, Rodgers 2-pt run	CLE 24, PIT 24
4	0:15	CLE	Szmyt 56-yd FG	CLE 27, PIT 24

Teams down 11+ at some point in a 4th quarter, regular season 1999-2026

Team-games	Drew level or led	Drew level, never led, lost
4303	488	145

Why it matters. The missed two-point try after the first fourth-quarter touchdown shaped the ending: it left Pittsburgh down eight instead of seven, so the late Freiermuth touchdown needed a second conversion just to tie rather than a kick to lead. Getting back from 11 down in a fourth quarter happens in about one of nine tries since 1999, and Pittsburgh did it with 1:46 left, which still left Cleveland enough time to set up the winning kick.

Cleveland's second quarter: 19 plays, 192 yards, 21 points

Split

Cleveland's first quarter was seven plays for 31 yards and one first down. Its second quarter was 19 plays, 192 yards, 10 first downs, a 68.4% success rate and +0.829 EPA per play, with touchdowns from Jaleel McLaughlin, Quinshon Judkins and Harold Fannin Jr. After halftime the Browns' offense went back to -0.384 and -0.041 EPA per play and scored only Szmyt's two field goals. Pittsburgh's third quarter was the low point of the day: 11 plays, 12 yards, two sacks.

Offense by quarter (pass and run plays)

Team	Qtr	Plays	EPA/play	Yards	Success rate	First downs	Sacks
CLE	1	7	-0.462	31	14.3%	1	0
CLE	2	19	+0.829	192	68.4%	10	0
CLE	3	15	-0.384	50	46.7%	4	0
CLE	4	19	-0.041	101	42.1%	5	2
PIT	1	19	+0.379	90	57.9%	8	1
PIT	2	16	-0.233	95	31.3%	4	1
PIT	3	11	-0.693	12	27.3%	1	2
PIT	4	20	+0.441	166	60.0%	7	1

Full game (pass and run plays)

Team	Plays	Yards	EPA/play	3rd down	Red-zone plays	Red-zone TD
CLE	60	374	+0.099	4 of 10	7	2
PIT	66	363	+0.071	5 of 13	14	2

Why it matters. Over the full game the two offenses were nearly identical, 374 yards to 363 and +0.099 to +0.071 EPA per play. The difference was when the good stretches came: Cleveland's was one quarter that produced three touchdowns, and Pittsburgh's best quarter came last, with the clock already working against it. Pittsburgh ran twice as many red-zone plays (14 to 7) and got the same two touchdowns out of them.

Rodgers threw three touchdowns and took five sacks, his first such game since 2019 and the only one with two picks

Comparison

Rodgers finished 22 of 40 for 299 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, the first a deep ball for Michael Pittman picked by Denzel Ward early in the second quarter and the second a heave picked by Grant Delpit on the final play. He was sacked five times for 30 yards. It is the seventh regular-season game of his career with three or more touchdown passes and five or more sacks, the first since 2019 at Kansas City, and the only one of the seven with more than one interception. DK Metcalf led all receivers with 115 yards on five catches.

Rodgers's regular-season games with 3+ TD passes and 5+ sacks taken

Season	Week	Team	Opp	Yards	TD	INT	Sacked
2009	8	GB	MIN	287	3	0	6
2012	5	GB	IND	235	3	1	5
2012	17	GB	MIN	365	4	0	5
2015	9	GB	CAR	369	4	1	5
2017	3	GB	CIN	313	3	1	6
2019	8	GB	KC	305	3	0	5
2026	4	PIT	CLE	299	3	2	5

Rodgers, 2026 game by game

Week	Opp	Comp-Att	Yards	TD	INT	Sacked	Sack yards
1	ATL	24-40	221	1	0	2	15
2	NE	23-39	187	0	1	4	43
3	CIN	19-34	292	3	1	2	19
4	CLE	22-40	299	3	2	5	30

Why it matters. Five sacks against three touchdown passes describes an offense that lived on both ends of the dropback: Rodgers's 299 yards were his most this season, while the 13 sacks he has taken through four games came in a season where he had not been sacked more than four times in any one game until Cleveland. His first interception, at his own 29 on first down, cost 3.57 expected points and ended a drive with Pittsburgh up 7-0.

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