2015 Week 17 · Sun, Jan 3, 2016 · FirstEnergy Stadium
Pittsburgh SteelersWinner
28
Cleveland Browns
12
Pittsburgh Steelers 28–12. Played in 18 mph wind — weigh that when reading the passing lines.
Who moved the needle
Top performers
Passing · PIT
24/36, 349 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT
11.6 expected points added · +9.9% completion over expected
Passing · CLE
24/46, 240 yds, 0 TD, 2 INT
-26.6 expected points added · -7.6% completion over expected
Receiving · PIT
13/17 for 187 yds, 1 TD
47% of team targets · 1.9 expected points added
Receiving · PIT
2/5 for 74 yds, 0 TD
14% of team targets · 2.8 expected points added
Full stat lines
Box score
Pittsburgh Steelers
Passing
| Player | C/Att | Yds | TD | INT | Sacked | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Roethlisberger | 24/36 | 349 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11.6 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fitzgerald Toussaint | 12 | 24 | 2.0 | 0 | -4.8 |
| DeAngelo Williams | 5 | 8 | 1.6 | 0 | -2.1 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 2 | -2 | -1.0 | 0 | -2.5 |
Receiving
| Player | Rec | Tgt | Yds | TD | Tgt share | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Brown | 13 | 17 | 187 | 1 | 47% | 1.9 |
| Darrius Heyward-Bey | 2 | 5 | 74 | 0 | 14% | 2.8 |
| Markus Wheaton | 3 | 5 | 57 | 1 | 14% | 3.7 |
| Heath Miller | 3 | 4 | 18 | 1 | 11% | 1.7 |
| DeAngelo Williams | 2 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 6% | 0.9 |
| Martavis Bryant | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8% | -6.4 |
Defense (top contributors)
| Player | Solo | Ast | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Timmons | 7 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Shazier | 3 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Will Allen | 7 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Arthur Moats | 6 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Mitchell | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Valentino Blake | 4 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Brandon Boykin | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephon Tuitt | 3 | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vince Williams | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| William Gay | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
Cleveland Browns
Passing
| Player | C/Att | Yds | TD | INT | Sacked | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Davis | 24/46 | 240 | 0 | 2 | 7 | -26.6 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isaiah Crowell | 15 | 53 | 3.5 | 0 | -2.0 |
| Austin Davis | 3 | 22 | 7.3 | 0 | 2.7 |
| Duke Johnson | 4 | 11 | 2.8 | 0 | -1.3 |
| Travis Benjamin | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | -0.4 |
Receiving
| Player | Rec | Tgt | Yds | TD | Tgt share | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Barnidge | 8 | 13 | 66 | 0 | 28% | -5.4 |
| Travis Benjamin | 5 | 11 | 53 | 0 | 24% | -1.8 |
| Darius Jennings | 6 | 10 | 45 | 0 | 22% | -4.0 |
| Terrelle Pryor | 1 | 6 | 42 | 0 | 13% | -0.8 |
| Duke Johnson | 4 | 6 | 34 | 0 | 13% | 0.0 |
Defense (top contributors)
| Player | Solo | Ast | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karlos Dansby | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre Desir | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Poyer | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 |
| K'Waun Williams | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig Robertson | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tashaun Gipson | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cam Johnson | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nate Orchard | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Hughes | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Randy Starks | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Closing number vs result
Betting context
- Closing spread
- PIT -13
- Closing total
- 47
- PIT moneyline
- -600
- CLE moneyline
- +498
Steelers closed -13 and covered, winning by 16.
Total closed 47; the game landed 40 — under by 7.0.
Conditions and crew
Game environment
- Venue
- FirstEnergy Stadium
- Roof / surface
- outdoors · grass
- Kickoff weather
- 34°F, wind 18 mph
- Referee
- Peter Morelli
- Rest
- PIT 7 days · CLE 7 days
- Coaches
- Mike Tomlin vs Mike Pettine
Division game — familiarity tightens these matchups; closing numbers tend to be sharper.
Wind at 18 mph is the kind that drags passing depth and kicking range — weigh it when reading the splits.