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Dorian Thompson-Robinson loses his voice, not composure to lead Browns past Steelers
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- Dorian Thompson-Robinson loses his voice, not composure to lead Browns past Steelers
CLEVELAND — Dorian Thompson-Robinson had little left of his voice to talk about his dramatic first win as a starting quarterback Sunday. Then again, he was well on his way to losing that by the time he was on his way to leading the Browns to the win.
"The first drive, I was like, 'You're a little loud right now,'" All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio said of Thompson-Robinson, who was making his second career start. "He was calling the plays a little loud, but besides that I was like, 'Hey, they might be able to hear, they're only five yards away. It's quiet at home.'"
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It was plenty loud when Thompson-Robinson , starting after Deshaun Watson was placed on season-ending injured reserve this week, and the Browns offense took over at their own 35 with 1:18 remaining in a tie game. It was delirium when Dustin Hopkins capped the drive with a 34-yard field goal with 2 seconds left to give the Browns a 13-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers .
What were many in the crowd chanting? "D-T-R. D-T-R."
"It's great for my family," said Thompson-Robinson, whose only previous start was a 28-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4. "I wouldn't say I don't like it, but I'm trying to stay focused on the game and make sure I'm doing my job. But it is super cool to be able to look back on and see those type of things."
Those final 78 seconds will make looking back on Thompson-Robinson's second career start a much more pleasant experience. Not just for the rookie fifth-round pick out of the UCLA, but for the Browns (7-3) as well.
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Thompson-Robinson completed his first four passes on the drive for a combined 39 yards. The only incompletion of the possession came when he clocked the ball with 5 seconds left to give Hopkins a chance from the Pittsburgh 17.
"You've got to play football," said wide receiver Elijah Moore , whose 15-yard catch started the final drive. "You've got to find your groove. When you have a quarterback that's in there that's under pressure like that, who's young, you've got to just find a groove. You've got to see what he sees. Thank God we got it done."
It was coolly efficient quarterbacking from Thompson-Robinson. It was also diametrically opposite to how the rookie had played for much of the second half, during which he was 7-of-19 passing for 28 yards with an interception in Pittsburgh territory before the final drive.
Thompson-Robinson finished 24-of-43 passing for 165 yards with one interception and a 54.9 passer rating. It's an improvement on the 19-of-39, 121-yard, three-pick, 22.7-rating performance in Week 4.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Elandon Roberts (50) hits Cleveland Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson (17) during the second half Sunday in Cleveland.
"I think we just came together," Thompson-Robinson said. "I have to go back and watch the film to see how all the other drives went. But I know on that last drive, from the (offensive) linemen all the way up to the running backs and the receivers, everybody was all locked in. Everybody had their job, knew what their job was and executed. So I think that was probably the biggest difference."
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Thompson-Robinson's second start was a tale of two separate halves. Both, though, were capped by a final possession that was a sight to behold.
The Browns already owned a 7-0 lead when they got the football at their own 17 with 5:29 remaining in the second quarter. They didn't give it back until there was 5 seconds left in the half and they had pushed their lead out to 10-0 on a 25-yard field goal by Hopkins.
Thompson-Robinson completed 6 of his first 7 passes for 42 yards on the drive, as well as converting a third-and-4 at midfield with a 5-yard run. The drive stalled out after he clocked the ball with 16 seconds left, with two throws into the end zone falling incomplete.
"He's a warrior," tight end David Njoku said. "He's a warrior. It's not easy being in his shoes, how much more being a rookie at that. So he's such an incredible, exceptional athlete and he got the job done today and he did a great job."
Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku (85) misses a catch against Pittsburgh Steelers safety Trenton Thompson (17) during the first half Sunday in Cleveland.
Njoku was the target of one of the two incompletions in the end zone. It wasn't a drop, but the tight end did have a couple during the course of the day.
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Then again, drops where something Thompson-Robinson had to overcome with some frequency. He had, by a rough count, at least seven drops.
Yet, it was Moore on the first completion of the final drive. It was Njoku going for 11 yards on the final completion of the drive.
"I mean, shoot, did you see my first start?" Thompson-Robinson said. "Those guys had faith in me after that game. And I couldn't have no choice but to have faith in those guys today. Dave's going to make a bunch of plays this year, same with Elijah and all those guys. So I have no choice but to get the ball out of my hands and get it in their hands because they're special playmakers."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Dorian Thompson-Robinson loses voice, not poise to guide Browns to win
