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On the lone sour note for the Steelers was the loss of linebacker Devin Bush to what ESPN’s Adam Schefter was told is a ACL tear that requires season-ending surgery. Bush is a good one, the play-caller on defence. Before the injury he had been on the field for every defensive snap of the season. The Steelers will miss him, but mostly because his replacement, Robert Spillane, had played just one defensive snap before this season.
Speaking of pain, Browns QB Baker Mayfield entered the game with bruised ribs and exited in the third quarter, pulled for Case Keenum, after being sacked four times and intercepted twice, one a pick-six.
“That was varsity ball,” Tomlin said about his team’s dominant display. “They stepped up and stepped up big all across the board.”
While Connor carried the ball 20 times for 101 yards and a score, Ben Roethlisberger didn’t have to do much. He completed just 14-of-22 passes for only 162 yards and a touchdown.
He did, however, continue building on his chemistry with Claypool, the 22-year old from Abbotsford, B.C. who last week set a franchise record for freshmen by scoring four TDs against the Eagles.
Versus the Browns, he pulled in all four of his targets for a team high 74 yards, and also scored on a three-yard run in the third quarter.
His longest reception, a 36-yarder down the right sidelines, set up a touchdown plunge by Connor.
The 11th receiver selected in what has to be one of the strongest classes ever at the position when he was taken 49th overall eight months ago, Claypool is just the fifth NFLer in the last 50 years to score six touchdowns in his first five games.
