Steelers Now
CLEVELAND — Aaron Rodgers throwing a 50/50 go ball to Scotty Miller on fourth-and-1 in the second quarter was arguably the most head-scratching decision of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 13-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Rodgers’ pass was way out of reach for Miller, squandering a chance to put up points after Jack Sawyer’s interception off Shedeur Sanders. The Steelers were also in an empty look on fourth-and-1. Why not just run the ball? The Steelers finished with 131 yards on 24 carries, an average of 5.5 yards per carry.
“(Aaron Rodgers) certainly had options, and he was one of them,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said after the game when asked about the fourth-and-1 mishap.
Rodgers explained why he made the throw, but it was a rather simple response.
“One-on-one,” he said.
Miller said he was singled up and “had a step on the cornerback.”
4th-and-1 following the Sawyer interception and the Steelers throw a 50/50 ball to Scotty Miller?
These are the plays that cause you to lose games to bad teams. pic.twitter.com/IbxKxJYSH7
— Kevin Smith (@KTSmithFFSN) December 28, 2025
The Steelers continued to get in their own way with mind-boggling play calls and decisions.
With the game hanging in the balance, Rodgers targets Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s three straight times. All were incomplete. The last one was another 50/50 ball on a fade route.
Browns five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward was baffled by Pittsburgh’s decision to target him on three straight plays.
“I’m always just prepared and ready for moments like that. I just try to make it hard on teams each time they decide to look at the scouting report and see who they’re going to attack, and make it hard on them when they come my way,” Ward said, via Ashley Bastock of clevelanddotcom. “I don’t know whose bright idea it was to try me for the game on three plays in a row, but we was able to come through and get the win.”
Browns defensive end Alex Wright said Rodgers was “flustered” and “cussing up a storm” on the field. He also didn’t get throwing at Ward three times in a row.
“When you try an All-Pro cornerback, that’s the type of result that’s going to happen…he’s got a lot of balls,” Wright said.
Pittsburgh was shorthanded at wide receiver with DK Metcalf serving the first week of his two-game suspension and Calvin Austin III sidelined with a hamstring injury. However, the team had several other options, like tight end Pat Freiermuth, who caught two passes for 40 yards on the final drive.
Not utilizing Freriemuth earlier was one of many head-scratching decisions by the Steelers’ offense on Sunday.
Alan Saunders and Brendan Howe provided reporting from Cleveland.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Rodgers, Tomlin Explain Crucial Head-Scratching Decision in Loss to Browns
