Browns 27, Steelers 24: Szmyt's 56-Yard Field Goal Beats Pittsburgh on Thursday Night Football
- 🔑 The Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 on Thursday Night Football, October 1, 2026 (Eastern time), at Huntington Bank Field when Andre Szmyt kicked a career-long 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left, lifting Cleveland to 3-1 and dropping Pittsburgh to 2-2.
- Cleveland scored 21 unanswered points in the second quarter and led 21-10 at halftime. Pittsburgh scored 14 in the fourth quarter, tying it 24-24 with about 1:42 left on a Rodgers touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth and a Rodgers quarterback-sneak two-point conversion, before Cleveland’s winning kick.
- Deshaun Watson led a seven-play, 36-yard drive after the tie, his third straight game-winning fourth-quarter drive. He finished 24-of-33 for 268 yards, one touchdown and one interception, per the official box score, and Szmyt improved to 8-for-8 on field goals this season.
- Aaron Rodgers finished 22-of-40 for 299 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, and was sacked five times. Grant Delpit intercepted his last pass at the Browns’ 18-yard line with about one second left. DK Metcalf caught five passes for 115 yards and Jaylen Warren ran 17 times for 93.
- The box score was nearly even: Cleveland out-gained Pittsburgh 372 yards to 361, each team had two turnovers, and the Steelers held the ball 31:11 to 28:49. Cleveland was flagged 14 times for 88 yards to Pittsburgh’s nine for 50, and still won on the final kick.
- Browns defensive tackle Mason Graham left with a knee injury on the Steelers’ first series and was ruled out; Steelers defensive lineman Derrick Harmon (foot) and cornerback Jamel Dean (ankle) also left. The teams meet again Sunday, November 1, 2026. No odds, spreads or win probabilities are used on this page.
The Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 on Thursday, October 1, 2026 (Eastern time), when kicker Andre Szmyt hit a career-long 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left at Huntington Bank Field. Deshaun Watson drove the Browns 36 yards in seven plays after Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh scored 14 fourth-quarter points to tie it at 24. Here is how the Week 4 game unfolded, who got hurt, and what comes next.
What was the final score of Steelers vs. Browns on Thursday Night Football?
The Browns won 27-24, improving to 3-1 while the Steelers fell to 2-2. Kickoff was at 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video. Both teams had entered 2-1; Cleveland is now 2-0 at home, and Pittsburgh is 0-2 on the road.
How did the scoring unfold?
Pittsburgh scored first, Cleveland ran off 21 straight points in the second quarter, and Pittsburgh answered with 14 in the fourth before the final kick. Pittsburgh’s opening touchdown drive covered 78 yards on 17 plays, and Denzel Ward’s early second-quarter interception set up the first of the Browns’ three touchdowns. The third quarter was scoreless. Pittsburgh’s tying touchdown came with about 1:42 left.
| Qtr | Scoring play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilson 12-yd TD pass from Rodgers | PIT 7-0 |
| 2 | McLaughlin 28-yd TD run | 7-7 |
| 2 | Judkins 2-yd TD run | CLE 14-7 |
| 2 | Fannin Jr. 2-yd TD pass from Watson | CLE 21-7 |
| 2 | Boswell 31-yd FG | CLE 21-10 |
| 4 | Washington 21-yd TD pass from Rodgers | CLE 21-16 |
| 4 | Szmyt 44-yd FG | CLE 24-16 |
| 4 | Freiermuth 3-yd TD pass, Rodgers 2-pt sneak | 24-24 |
| 4 | Szmyt 56-yd FG | CLE 27-24 |
How did Szmyt’s 56-yard field goal win the game?
After Pittsburgh tied it, Watson led a seven-play, 36-yard drive, and Szmyt made the 56-yard kick with 10 seconds remaining. It was his career long, topping a 55-yarder, and the Browns say it ties for the seventh-longest in franchise history. Szmyt is 8-for-8 on field goals this season, per the league’s recap. Safety Grant Delpit then intercepted Rodgers’ desperation throw at the Browns’ 18 with about one second left. It was Watson’s third straight game-winning fourth-quarter drive, and the league says he is the second Browns quarterback since Brian Sipe in 1979 to do that in three consecutive games.
How did Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson play?
Rodgers threw for more yards and touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions and took five sacks.
| QB | Comp-Att | Yards | TD-INT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rodgers | 22-40 | 299 | 3-2 |
| Watson | 24-33 | 268 | 1-1 |
Rodgers, 42, who has said 2026 will be his last NFL season, absorbed 10 Cleveland quarterback hits, per the league’s recap. Watson was sacked twice, and Next Gen Stats data cited in that recap shows Pittsburgh pressured him on only 21.6% of dropbacks. For the Steelers, DK Metcalf had five catches for 115 yards and Jaylen Warren ran 17 times for 93. For the Browns, Quinshon Judkins ran 17 times for 53 yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for 43, Denzel Boston had four catches for 89, and KC Concepcion had five for 64.
What did the team stats and turnovers show?
The teams were nearly even, and the biggest gap was penalties.
| Stat | Steelers | Browns |
|---|---|---|
| Total yards | 361 | 372 |
| First downs | 24 | 22 |
| Third downs | 4-13 | 4-10 |
| Penalties | 9-50 | 14-88 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 2 |
| Possession | 31:11 | 28:49 |
Cleveland recorded five sacks and two interceptions (Ward and Delpit). Pittsburgh had two sacks, one by T.J. Watt, and one interception by rookie safety Robert Spears-Jennings off a tipped pass in the fourth quarter. Watt also stripped Watson late in the third quarter and recovered the ball. Afterward, Browns defensive end Jared Verse said, “This ain’t the old Browns.” Watt called the loss extremely frustrating.
What was the Rodgers-McCarthy sideline exchange about?
On-field microphones caught Rodgers and Steelers coach Mike McCarthy in a heated, profane exchange in the first quarter, and both men addressed it afterward. Rodgers could be heard pushing for a play call. McCarthy said he wished he had not used those words but described it as competitive rather than negative communication, while Rodgers said crowd noise made some calls hard to hear.
Who was hurt in Browns vs. Steelers?
Browns defensive tackle Mason Graham, the No. 5 pick in the 2025 draft, left with a left knee injury on the Steelers’ first series and was ruled out. Reports on Thursday night said Steelers defensive lineman Derrick Harmon (foot) went down early in the second quarter and did not return, and cornerback Jamel Dean (ankle) left late in the first half. Reports also said linebacker Nick Herbig left in the second half, and Browns defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. (ankle) returned. This section reflects Thursday-night reports only. We are not guessing at diagnoses or timelines, so check each team’s official injury report for status.
When do the Browns and Steelers play next?
Both teams play Sunday, October 11, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. ET, and they meet again Sunday, November 1, 2026, at Acrisure Stadium. On October 11, the Steelers host the Indianapolis Colts and the Browns visit the New York Jets. The November 1 rematch is Week 8, kicking off at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS. After Thursday’s game, Cleveland sits alone in first place in the AFC North, with Baltimore and Cincinnati both 2-1 and still to play in Week 4.
Some history frames the result. Last season, Pittsburgh won 23-9 at home on October 12, 2025, and Cleveland won 13-6 at home on December 28, 2025. Cleveland has won eight straight Thursday games, the longest active streak in the NFL, per the league’s recap, and reports say this is the Browns’ first 3-1 start since 2021 and that the Steelers have not won in Cleveland since 2021.
Browns coach Todd Monken said he was happy for Watson after a third straight fourth-quarter comeback. On Thursday, October 1, a game tied at 24 with under two minutes left came down to one kick.
How we verified this
Final score, line score and scoring plays (Browns 27, Steelers 24; Pittsburgh 7-3-0-14, Cleveland 0-21-0-6; nine scoring plays with clock times) were checked against five independent sources: two national sports-network box scores, each club’s own official game recap, and the league’s own game recap. All agreed on the score, quarter-by-quarter points, scorers and clock times.
Quarterback and team statistics (Rodgers 22-of-40 for 299 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions; Watson 24-of-33 for 268 yards, one touchdown, one interception; team yards, first downs, third downs, penalties, turnovers and possession) follow the two national box scores, which matched each other. One sports site listed Rodgers at 22-of-39, and one search snippet had Watson at 290 yards and Warren at 126; both conflict with the box scores and were not used.
Conflicts we resolved: the Freiermuth touchdown is timed at 1:42 by both box scores and both clubs’ sites, while one wire report says 1:44, so we wrote “about 1:42.” One live blog placed the McLaughlin and Judkins touchdowns in the first quarter, but the box scores and the Browns’ own recap time them at 12:14 and 8:28 of the second, so we followed those. Cleveland’s team rushing total is 112 yards in one table and 117 in a live recap, so we left it out.
Streak and record claims were handled conservatively. Cleveland’s eighth straight Thursday-night win (longest active in the NFL) appears in the league’s recap and in wire and local-TV reports. The first 3-1 start since 2021 and the Steelers’ lack of a win in Cleveland since 2021 rest on press reports and are attributed that way. We omitted a “first lead in the AFC North since 2014” claim because it conflicts with the league’s own framing, a Steelers Thursday divisional road streak that outlets counted differently, a Browns all-time Thursday record against Pittsburgh that sources framed differently, and the all-time series record, which we could not confirm against an official table. The 2025 meetings (Steelers 23-9 on October 12, 2025; Browns 13-6 on December 28, 2025) come from the national sports network’s game pages.
Quotes and sensitive items: Jared Verse’s “This ain’t the old Browns” was confirmed in two separate reports. A reported accusation by Verse about how Pittsburgh played could not be found in the reports we could open, so it is not used. The Rodgers-McCarthy microphone exchange is paraphrased without profanity, with each man’s own postgame explanation attributed. The Steelers’ and Browns’ postgame comments were taken from summaries rather than full transcripts, so they are paraphrased rather than quoted.
Injuries are limited to what was reported Thursday night, October 1, 2026 (Graham’s knee, Harmon’s foot, Dean’s ankle, Hall’s ankle with a return, and a report naming Herbig). A report published Friday, October 2, 2026 described further testing on Graham, but its details conflicted with other accounts of how he left the field, so we did not use it. Injury status was still moving at the time of writing.
Standings and schedule: “Alone in first in the AFC North” is as of Thursday night only; Baltimore and Cincinnati were both 2-1 on the standings page with Week 4 games still to play. The October 11 games and the November 1 rematch (Week 8, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS) were checked against both clubs’ schedule pages. Some outlets date this game October 2 because of UTC/UK time stamps; it was played Thursday, October 1, in Eastern time.
No betting odds, spreads, or win-probability models appear anywhere on this page.