Browns could've made a statement. They instead got a reality check in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH -- Though the game had long been decided and the Cleveland Browns had already been bullied out of first place in the AFC North, the final sequence Sunday said it all about why they aren't quite where they'd like to be -- and why they never really gave themselves much of a chance against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

With 22 seconds left, the Browns had a first-and-goal run by Quinshon Judkins from Pittsburgh's 1-yard line go for no gain. In a scramble to take one more shot at saving face on the final scoreboard, the Browns committed a false start penalty that washed away the final seconds by automatic runoff, officially ending the game.

The final score was Steelers 27, Browns 6.

In the beginning and in the end, the Browns were unorganized, largely uncompetitive and unable to run for 1 yard when they needed it.

Cleveland (5-3) committed two turnovers in the first five minutes and lacked a real punch. What could have been a runaway instead became a methodical domination by the Steelers (6-2), a lopsided loss that stops the Browns' momentum and leaves real questions about the offense's predictability and the defense's habit of surrendering big plays.

Another way to sum it up: The Steelers ran for 200 yards compared to 34 for the Browns. On its biggest stage yet, Cleveland came out flat and got flattened, losing its 23rd consecutive regular-season game in Pittsburgh.

Given that all five Browns wins came via heroic final-minute drives that trumped and masked clear deficiencies, it wasn't entirely surprising that the Steelers built an early lead. The Browns have been giving up chunk runs, missing important tackles and starting slowly on both sides. They've now been outscored by 52 points in the first quarter over eight games. And in Sunday's first quarter, they were outgained in yardage 135 to 1.

The Browns have only scored 13 total touchdowns this season. A reality check was always coming, and a Steelers team that had mounted a comeback only to lose to Deshaun Watson's fourth-quarter magic in Week 4 was focused on scoring some measure of revenge.

No sane person was buying the Browns as some shooting star or real contender right now. Even with Sunday's loss, they have plenty of winnable games on the schedule as they work through their flaws. The real problems coming out of the game lie in the predictability of how the Steelers would attack with running backs Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle, the Browns' inability to make the run-first Steelers uncomfortable and their overall unpreparedness for the moment.

The Browns getting two taunting penalties in the span of 15 plays while trailing by three touchdowns was downright embarrassing. On a day when the Browns had nine penalties for 85 yards, the lack of composure seemed nearly as problematic as the Steelers sacking Watson eight times.

"We didn't do a good enough job in any area," Browns coach Todd Monken said. "Our poise was a piece of it. The penalties were a piece of it. The lost yardage, sacks, (inability) to run the football … obviously, we got behind, and that's going to have a hand in that."

Even with the fourth-quarter heroics of September and October, the eight-game body of work says the Browns are a bad offense with some talented young pieces. But a relentless Pittsburgh pass rush tore that offense to pieces.

The offensive line had a bad day, but the story remains the same. As long as the Browns struggle to run it consistently and rarely threaten to throw deep, and as long as Watson holds the ball in hopes of eventually beating the rush with his legs, the negative plays will pile up. The pressure will keep winning, and the Browns will struggle to stack positive plays.

They've smartly and successfully targeted tight end Harold Fannin Jr. over the last two weeks after a head-scratching two-game period in which he wasn't really involved. He posted a career-best 154 receiving yards Sunday.

Watson went over 300 yards passing for the second straight week, but most of the 324 felt empty considering he had only 87 pass yards before the Browns went down by three scores early in the third quarter. The Browns averaged 2.3 yards per rush, again couldn't stop the run and rarely found any easy yards for Watson in the quick pass game. They finished a combined 4-of-15 on third and fourth downs, and the Steelers set the tone with three sacks on Cleveland's first three drives.

Twice the Steelers got too cute in the red zone in the second quarter and settled for field goals, or it might have been worse than 20-6 at halftime. Warren ran for 102 of his 143 yards in the first half.

Even in the end, the Browns couldn't tack on a garbage-time score. In what could have been a statement game, the Browns' overall product was garbage.

"It's a good learning lesson for this young team," Monken said. "When you don't play your best, you don't give yourself a chance. We're certainly capable of a lot better than we put out there today. It's a week-to-week league, and we didn't play well enough today."

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.