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Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson tried to explain how he committed two face mask penalties in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Pittsburgh Steelers kept their regular season winning streak against the Cleveland Browns at Acurisure Stadium intact in the most improbable way in Week 2. Pittsburgh’s defense recorded four takeaways, six sacks and two touchdowns in the 26-22 victory.
Despite having negative yardage in the fourth quarter, the Steelers erased a fourth-quarter deficit.
One of the other major factors in the contest was penalties. The Browns committed 8 fouls for 81 yards. Cleveland had 50 more penalty yards than Pittsburgh did.
Two of the biggest Browns penalties in the contest were on quarterback Deshaun Watson. On two plays where Watson scrambled during the second half, he attempted to stiff arm Steelers defenses but instead grabbed their face masks.
Watson accepted blame for the penalties. But he also offered an odd explanation as to why they occurred.
“I apologized to the team,” Watson told reporters after the game. “A 15-yard penalty for us, and it set us back. Both times was my fault.
“But as far as the face mask and things like that, I’m stiff-arming just like everyone else, and once they grab my arm as I’m running, they keep pushing, the only way I can really let go is to swing across. And once they do that, my hand is stuck in their helmet or in their face mask, so I gotta do a better job of just hitting them with the palm, I guess, and just releasing as much as I can, so we don’t get those penalties.”
Dave Holcomb is a sports reporter covering the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions for Heavy.com. Originally from Pittsburgh, Holcomb has covered college and professional sports for outlets including Fansided, Rotowire and Yardbarker. More about Dave Holcomb
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