Steel City Blitz
Since the turn of the century, the Pittsburgh Steelers lead the Cleveland Browns 16-9 when they play in Cleveland. Most of those victories came from the hand of Ben Roethlisberger. Since his retirement, the Steelers have lost three straight games when they travel up the Turnpike.
The Browns completely dominated the early contests when they just had to turn up to beat the Same Old Steelers. After Chuck Noll took over as Pittsburgh’s head coach, that superiority initially stayed intact in Cleveland when the Browns won the first five contests that Noll coached.
It changed for Noll the season the Steelers won their first Lombardi. On the way to Super Bowl IX, the Steelers swept the series home and away for only the second time. The previous occasion was 1959 when Bobby Layne led the team to two victories.
Following the 1974 season, the Steelers were chasing back-to-back Lombardis. They began with an easy 37-0 shutout in San Diego but surprisingly lost a home game 21-30 to the Bills.
O.J. Simpson ran all over the Steelers in front of a sellout crowd. His fourth 200-yard game tied Jim Brown’s record, and he became only the second running back to gain 100 yards on the Steelers in Three Rivers Stadium. Simpson ran for a total of 227 yards, a record that held until 2000 when Jaguars Fred Taylor totalled 234 as Jacksonville beat Pittsburgh 34-24.
After the Bills loss, Coach Noll stayed positive. “We didn’t expect smooth sailing this season,” he offered. “There’s not much difference between a good performance and a lousy performance.”
The (1-1-) Steelers at the (0-2) Browns; October 5, 1975
The Steelers scored on the game’s opening possession. Terry Bradshaw found Lynn Swann and Larry Brown with passes of 20 yards on a 12-play drive of 85 yards. A 3-yard touchdown pass to John Stallworth was followed by Roy Gerela’s successful point after.
In the second quarter, despite the persistent holding from the Browns defense, the Steelers kept moving the ball. Bradshaw continued to find his receivers. He led another drive of 84 yards finishing with a 1-yard touchdown run from Franco Harris.
The Browns pass defense had gone missing and Bradshaw took full advantage. Completions of 45 yards to Swann and 28 yards to Mike Collier sparked a drive that Collier’s 1-yard touchdown run ended.
With the Browns 21 point behind and receiving a battering, the rancour between the teams boiled over. The Steelers had become frustrated with the holding by their opponents that wasn’t being penalized. The Browns had become disheartened by the Steelers complete dominance.
L.C. Greenwood threw a few punches first before the officials attempted to break the melee up. Under the pile Joe Greene and Browns Tom DeLeone were kicking each other. Both were ejected. The situation became so confused that one official told Greenwood he had been ejected. Greenwood held his ground to allow things to cool down before realising he hadn’t been ejected.
The brawl was followed by a Steelers...
