Szmyt’s 56-Yard Kick Extends a Thursday Night Pattern

Andre Szmyt hit a career-long 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left, and the Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 on Thursday night at Huntington Bank Field. Deshaun Watson moved the offense into range for the third straight week, then Grant Delpit picked off Aaron Rodgers at the Cleveland 18 with one second left.

The Browns are 3-1 for the first time since 2021 and sit alone in first in the AFC North until Baltimore and Cincinnati play on Sunday. Pittsburgh fell to 2-2, another Thursday on the road in this division that ended the same way the last nine did.

Szmyt’s 56-Yard Kick Ends Another Thursday Thriller

Pittsburgh had just tied it. Watson still had to cover the field, and he did it in a hurry, completing 4 of 5 passes while the Browns picked up 36 net yards on seven plays and stopped at the Steelers 38. Szmyt lined up with 15 seconds on the clock. The kick cleared with 10 seconds left, his longest as a pro, and Huntington Bank Field went up as if the lead had never slipped.

Szmyt, the second-year kicker out of Syracuse, had already made a 44-yarder at 6:37 of the fourth. He finished 2 for 2 on field goals and 3 for 3 on extra points. He is 8 of 8 field goals this season and 7 of 7 on extra points. Before the try, he told Watson to get him to the 42, talking about a kick from about 60. Watson got him a few extra yards. Szmyt said he would have hit it from anywhere.

That was money. I just knew, I knew it was money. He told me the landmark, which was like the 42-yard line. He was like, ‘Man, you got me a little extra.’

Deshaun Watson, Browns quarterback, after the win

The league account posted the kick while the stadium was still loud.

ANDRE SZMYT FROM 56 YARDS FOR THE WIN! pic.twitter.com/64qGSekF7q

— NFL (@NFL) October 2, 2026

Rodgers got the ball at his own 35 after the kickoff went into the end zone. Delpit jumped the last heave at the 18 with one second on the clock. Cleveland knelt, and a game that had been 21-7 late in the first half was finally over.

How Pittsburgh Tied the Game Late

The Steelers were down 21-10 after three quarters and down 24-16 after Szmyt’s 44-yarder. They still had enough in the two-minute drill to make Cleveland kick from 56. Rodgers found Darnell Washington for a 21-yard touchdown at 10:10 of the fourth, six plays after Robert Spears-Jennings intercepted Watson near the Pittsburgh 23, but the two-point pass failed and the score sat at 21-16.

A defensive pass-interference call on Washington then spotted the ball at the 3 with 1:46 left. Rodgers hit Pat Freiermuth from 3 yards at 1:42 and sneaked in the two-point try to tie it at 24. It was the kind of finish Pittsburgh had been hunting all night, after a first drive that ate 9:48 and a long stretch in between when the Browns pass rush had him looking at the ground.

THE FOURTH QUARTER, PLAY BY PLAY

1. 10:10, fourth: Washington 21-yard touchdown catch from Rodgers; two-point pass fails, Browns 21-16.
2. 6:37, fourth: Szmyt 44-yard field goal after Watson scrambled 21 yards on third down, Browns 24-16.
3. 1:42, fourth: Freiermuth 3-yard touchdown catch; Rodgers sneak for two, 24-24.
4. 0:10, fourth: Szmyt 56-yard field goal, Browns 27-24.
5. 0:01, fourth: Delpit intercepts Rodgers at the Cleveland 18.

That rally started with takeaways. T.J. Watt forced and recovered a fumble late in the third, and Spears-Jennings picked Watson on the next series. Watson said after the game that he felt good in the first half and made it harder in the second, and that he has to protect the ball. The late drive did not erase the turnovers. It only outran them.

Eight Straight Thursdays Keep Going Cleveland’s Way

Cleveland has now won its eighth straight Thursday night win, the longest active streak in the league and the fourth-longest in NFL history. Four of those eight have come against the Steelers. Pittsburgh is 0-10 on the road against AFC North (and old AFC Central) rivals on Thursdays, a mark that started with a 6-0 loss to the Houston Oilers on Dec. 4, 1980, and now includes this one in Cleveland.

First-year Steelers coach Mike McCarthy brought a seven-game Thursday winning streak with him from Dallas. It ended on the same field where Pittsburgh has now lost five straight, a skid that dates to 2021. Watson is the fifth different Cleveland quarterback to beat them during that run in this stadium.

THE AFC NORTH AFTER THURSDAY

The night did not look like a curse in the first 10 minutes. After Cleveland went three-and-out, Pittsburgh drove 78 yards in 17 plays, with five Browns penalties mixed in, and Roman Wilson took a shovel pass 12 yards around left end at 2:59 of the first quarter. It was the second straight game the Steelers scored on their opening drive. Then the rest of the half belonged to Cleveland, and the old Thursday script had time to catch up.

Watson Joins Brian Sipe After Three Winning Drives

Watson completed 24 of 33 passes for 268 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He had 181 yards by halftime, his most in a first half since he joined the Browns in 2022, then spent the last two quarters managing turnovers and a Steelers defense that finally got home. League tracking had Pittsburgh pressuring him on 21.6% of dropbacks, among the lowest rates a defense has posted this season, and he was sacked twice. He also lost a fumble. Watt and Payton Wilson each had a sack.

He is the second Browns quarterback since the 1970 merger, after Brian Sipe in 1979, to lead a winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime in three straight games. The first two came in a 23-19 win at Tampa Bay and a 21-18 win over Carolina. This one needed the kicker.

WATSON ON THURSDAY NIGHT

• Passing: 24 of 33, 268 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 94 total QBR.
• The last drive: 4 of 5 passing, seven plays, 36 net yards to the Pittsburgh 38.
• Rushing: 7 carries, 22 yards, including a 21-yard scramble that set up the 44-yard field goal.
• The mess: One interception, two fumbles, one lost, both in the second half.

Coach Todd Monken, who took over after Kevin Stefanski was let go in January, spent part of the pregame in the office going over the call sheet and telling Watson it would feel good to be introduced last. Seven weeks earlier, the same crowd had booed him in the preseason. Monken called the opener at Jacksonville, a 34-10 loss on Sept. 13, a tough night in every phase and said the locker room after this one was fun. Watson called the building electric and said this is what you dream about, and what you work for.

The split on him does not close because of one kick. He still put the ball on the ground, and he still threw the pick that let Pittsburgh back in. He also just won three straight games in the fourth quarter, and the people who wanted him gone after Week 1 now have a first-place team to argue with.

The Second Quarter Built a 21-7 Cushion

Cleveland ran 7 plays for 31 yards in the first quarter. In the second it ran 20 plays for 191 yards and three touchdowns, the first time the Browns had scored at least 21 points in a second quarter since Week 13 of 2020 against Tennessee. Denzel Ward started it. On the second play of the quarter he intercepted a Rodgers pass meant for Michael Pittman Jr. at the Cleveland 44, after taking an illegal-contact flag on the opening drive.

Monken gave Ward credit for flipping the game. Ward later said he hopes Rodgers keeps throwing his way. Isaiah McGuire then dropped Rodgers for a 6-yard loss on third-and-4, and Chris Boswell hooked a 48-yard try that would have cut the lead. Mike Hall Jr. sacked Rodgers on third-and-15 in the third after Watson’s fumble, pushing Pittsburgh out of field-goal range. Maliek Collins, Sam Williams, and McGuire were among the five sacks. The Browns also hit Rodgers 10 times. Carson Schwesinger led the defense with nine tackles. Cleveland played man coverage on 73.3% of snaps, and Steelers receivers rarely found a clean window underneath.

THREE TOUCHDOWNS IN ONE QUARTER

• 12:14, second: Jaleel McLaughlin, the former Bronco, runs 28 yards around right end, breaking tackles at the 22 and 15, 7-7.
• 8:28, second: After Watson hits Denzel Boston for 60 yards to the Pittsburgh 14, Quinshon Judkins scores from 2 yards, 14-7.
• 1:22, second: Harold Fannin Jr. catches a 2-yard touchdown on third-and-goal, his third score in two games, 21-7.

Boston, a 22-year-old wideout, finished with 4 catches for 89 yards. KC Concepcion, the first-round pick, had 5 for 64. Fannin had 3 for 27 and the score. Judkins added 17 carries for 53 yards and 6 catches for 43. McLaughlin touched it once and scored. Corey Bojorquez punted four times for a 62.8-yard average, including an 81-yarder and one downed at the Pittsburgh 1. The lead looked safe. It was not.

First Place in the AFC North Lasts Until Sunday

Rodgers went 22 of 40 for 299 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions, with a passer rating of 83.2. Jaylen Warren ran 17 times for 93 yards and was not given much more than that even while the pocket collapsed. DK Metcalf had 5 catches for 115 yards, including a 43-yarder that set up the Washington score. Wilson added 3 for 74. Cleveland outgained Pittsburgh 372-361 in a game that never felt that close until it was tied.

THE TWO QUARTERBACKS

Boswell made a 31-yard field goal with eight seconds left in the half to make it 21-10, then missed from 48. He went 1 for 2. The Steelers scored 14 in the fourth and still left with the same Thursday result they have been packing since 1980 on the road in this division.

The Browns visit the New York Jets on Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. at MetLife Stadium. Until Sunday’s AFC North games kick, first place is in Cleveland, on the back of a kicker who asked for the 42 and got it, and a Thursday night habit Pittsburgh has not broken in 46 years.