Ben Roethlisberger shed a tear after the bitter and unexpected bankruptcy against the Cleveland Browns.
The 38-year-old quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers sat on a bench in freezing temperatures in Heinz Field and looked stunned. The dream of the third Super Bowl fell through, and after 17 years his career may even be over. And that with a slap that nobody could have expected.
Roethlisberger made three interceptions in the first half alone, four in total, but that wasn’t even the most surprising. The Browns led 28-0 in the first quarter! In the end, the score was 48:37 – and in contrast to Roethlisberger, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield was very satisfied at the NBC microphone. “We believed all along, that’s all that counts,” said the 25-year-old after the first playoff game of his life and, with a view to the upcoming duel with defending champions Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, said: “As soon as you are in the playoffs, anything can happen. We will continue to believe in ourselves. “
When the Browns last won a playoff game in January 1995, Mayfield wasn’t even born. In general, the professionals from Cleveland, who were rather ridiculed in the league, made it into the knockout round on the way to the Super Bowl in 2003. But neither the gloomy statistics of 17 defeats in a row at away games in Pittsburgh nor the lack of important people stopped the Browns. Without head coach Kevin Stefanski and without the regulars Joel Bitonio and Denzel Ward – all tested positive for the corona virus – the team overran the Steelers from the first second.
After 14 seconds it was 6-0 when the Browns secured the unsuccessful first snap of the Steelers to Roethlisberger and turned it into a touchdown. A humiliation followed. The 28 points in the first quarter were more than in any other playoff game since the NFL reform in 1970. “I’m proud of these guys,” said Mayfield, who said that a teammate had only met him in the dressing room before the game still presented.
After the duel with the Chiefs on Sunday, the New Orleans Saints will meet the Tampa Bay Buccaneers again in the playoffs. The Saints defeated the Chicago Bears 21: 9 and thus enabled the next trial of the quarterback superstars Tom Brady and Drew Brees.
The day before it comes to the duels of the Los Angeles Rams with the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills with the Baltimore Ravens, who won on Sunday 8:13 pm against the Tennessee Titans.
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