2004 · Week 5 · Division

Final

Browns

Cleveland

QB Jeff Garcia

23·34

Steelers

Pittsburgh

QB Ben Roethlisberger

Heinz Field · outdoors · dessograss · 54°F · wind 7mph

Closing spread

PIT -4.5

Total

36

Model margin

+7.0est.

PIT perspective

Push chance

None

half-point line — cannot push

Win probability

  • Steelers
  • Browns

How each play moved the game.

Steelers winsBrowns wins

Matchup

Where the edges are

Season-long league percentiles for both sides, mirrored. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge.

Brownsedge mapSteelers
  • -0.147EPA / play+0.044
  • 38.6%Success rate44.9%
  • -0.067EPA / dropback+0.136
  • -0.251EPA / rush-0.028
  • 7.6%Explosive rate10.4%
  • 29.2%Third-down rate44.9%
  • 50.7%Red-zone TD rate56.0%
  • 1.18Points / drive1.83
  • 3.8%Turnover rate2.1%
  • -0.002EPA / play allowed-0.133

Bar length is league percentile, already oriented so longer is better. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge; rows within ~12 points are washed as even.

The rivalry

PIT lead 42–13–1 since 1999

Meetings average 38.9 points. PIT are 29-25-2 ATS in the series.

Previous meetings
SeasonMatchupScoreWinner
2025 · W17PIT @ CLE613CLE
2025 · W6CLE @ PIT923PIT
2024 · W14CLE @ PIT1427PIT
2024 · W12PIT @ CLE1924CLE
2023 · W11PIT @ CLE1013CLE
2023 · W2CLE @ PIT2226PIT
2022 · W18CLE @ PIT1428PIT
2022 · W3PIT @ CLE1729CLE

Box score

Individual performances

Browns

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Jeff Garcia16/3421010

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Jeff Garcia5418.20
Lee Suggs11302.70
William Green3279.00
Dennis Northcutt100.00

Steelers

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Ben Roethlisberger16/2123111

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Duce Staley211175.61
Jerome Bettis14342.41
Ben Roethlisberger6132.21

Where this game is likely to land

  • Model
  • Smooth (normal)
  • Betting line

Probability of each final margin. Football scoring clusters — the spikes at 3 and 7 are real, and a smooth model misses them.

line +4.53.1%5.9%7.2%3.2%5.0%3.4%3.3%2.6%

Positive margins favour Steelers; negative favour Browns.

Half-point at risk

1.96%

outcomes that flip if the line moves 0.5

Model home win

67.4%

Expected total

41.9est.

Model

Where the number comes from

Each component is additive, in points of expected margin.

  • Team ratings (opponent-adjusted EPA)+4.45
  • Home-field advantage+2.56
  • Quarterback adjustment0.00
  • Rest differential0.00
  • Expected margin+7.01