PITTSBURGH — No fighting. No helmet swinging. Barely any trash talking. Just football.
And one very loud statement from the banged-up Pittsburgh Steelers, written not on a T-shirt but all over the Heinz Field turf: The faces may change when Cleveland visits Pittsburgh, but the result does not.
Undrafted rookie free agent Devlin “Duck” Hodges threw for 212 yards with a touchdown and an interception, fellow rookie Benny Snell ran for 63 yards and a score, and the largely anonymous Steelers (7-5) surged past the Browns 20-13 on Sunday.
The hosts exacted a measure of revenge for its ugly, brawl-marred defeat in Cleveland two weeks ago by keeping the Browns (5-7) winless in Pittsburgh for 16 years and counting.
The Steelers remain in the middle of the playoff chase after rallying from 10 points down, thanks in large part to Hodges, a champion duck caller in his down time now 2-0 as starter. Bumped to the top of the depth chart last week in place of struggling Mason Rudolph, Hodges completed 14 of 21 passes and hardly played like a guy cut at the end of training camp.
The Browns saw their three-game winning streak come to a crashing halt when they failed to handle a Pittsburgh offense riddled with injuries and inexperience at the skill positions. Baker Mayfield completed 18 of 32 passes for 196 yards with a touchdown and an interception; he played the entire second half with his right hand in a protective glove after smacking it against the face mask of Pittsburgh linebacker Bud Dupree.
BENGALS 22, JETS 6: Andy Dalton returned from his three-week exile and got a long-awaited win for the coach who benched him, throwing a touchdown pass as Cincinnati won at home to end the longest losing streak in team history.
The Bengals (1-11) had lost 13 in a row since the end of last season, with new coach Zac Taylor waiting until December to get his first win.
The Jets (4-8) had their three-game winning streak snapped and made some dubious NFL history, becoming the first team to lose to two opponents in the same season who were 0-7 or worse. New York lost to Miami, which was 0-7 at the time, on Nov. 3.
CHIEFS 40, RAIDERS 9: Patrick Mahomes threw for a touchdown and ran for a touchdown, and Juan Thornhill returned an interception 46 yards for another score as Kansas City (8-4) won at home.
LeSean McCoy and Darwin Thompson also had TD runs for the Chiefs, who finished a season sweep of the Raiders (6-6).
Derek Carr dropped to 0-6 at Arrowhead Stadium with another miserable outing, throwing for 222 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. It was the Raiders’ seventh straight loss in Kansas City.
RAMS 34, CARDINALS 7: Jared Goff threw for 424 yards and two touchdowns, and Robert Woods had 172 yards receiving as visiting Los Angeles (7-5) stayed in the hunt for a playoff berth.
Goff, who had no touchdowns passes and five interceptions over his previous three games, piled up 323 yards passing in the first half as the Rams built a 20-0 lead.
The Cardinals (3-8-1) have lost five straight games.
BRONCOS 23, CHARGERS 20: Brandon McManus’ 53-yard field goal as time expired, set up by a long interference call, gave Denver (4-8) a win over visiting Los Angeles (4-8).
The winning kick was set up by a 38-yard pass interference call on Chargers cornerback Casey Hayward Jr., after Michael Badgley’s 46-yard field goal tied the game with 14 seconds remaining.
TITANS 31, COLTS 17: Tye Smith returned a blocked field goal 63 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 5:02 remaining as Tennessee (7-5) won at Indianapolis (6-6).
Adam Vinatieri missed three field goals for the Colts, with two being blocked, including the decisive kick that Dane Cruikshank got his hand on. Vinatieri has missed 14 kicks this season: eight field goals and six extra points.
Jacoby Brissett was picked off twice, the first resulting in a 31-yard field goal that tied the score at 17 late in the third quarter, the second resulting in Ryan Tannehill’s 40-yard TD pass to Kalif Raymond with 3:02 left that sealed the victory.
Derrick Henry carried 26 times for 149 yards and a touchdown, becoming the first runner to top the 100-yard mark against Indianapolis in 30 games.
PACKERS 31, GIANTS 13: Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes in the snow, and visiting Green Bay (9-3) sent the Giants (2-10) to an eighth straight loss.
The Packers intercepted Giants rookie Daniel Jones three times, setting up 10 points.
DOLPHINS 37, EAGLES 31: DeVante Parker made two acrobatic touchdown receptions and kicker Jason Sanders also had a circus-like scoring catch as Miami (3-9) overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half against visiting Philadelphia (5-7).
Trickery helped the Dolphins, who twice opted not to kick on fourth down and instead threw for a touchdown. The second such gamble by rookie coach Brian Flores paid off when Miami shifted out of field goal formation before holder Matt Haack threw a 1-yard pass to Sanders.
WASHINGTON 29, PANTHERS 21: Derrius Guice ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns, and Washington (3-9) made a late goal-line stand to secure a win at Charlotte (5-7).
BUCCANEERS 28, JAGUARS 11: Nick Foles ended his first three drives with turnovers that Tampa Bay (5-7) turned into touchdowns, sending Jacksonville (4-8) to a fourth straight loss by at least 17 points.
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