Joe Haden lived the miserable existence of being a Cleveland Brown for seven years. Not once from his rookie season in 2010 until his final season there in 2016 did Haden make the playoffs. In most years, the Browns didn’t sniff the postseason.
But on Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field, the Browns had a real opportunity to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2002 if they could find a way to beat the Steelers. So it was fitting the player they unceremoniously cut just days before the beginning of the 2017 season was the one who put the dagger in their 2019 hopes.
Haden came back to haunt his old team when he made a diving interception with 1:06 remaining to help the Steelers beat the Browns, 20-13.
It’s the Steelers, with a rookie undrafted free agent at quarterback, who are in playoff position while the Browns, the poster children for winners of the offseason, are forced to contemplate a 17th consecutive year without an appearance in the postseason.
“No, honestly, I couldn’t,” Haden said when asked if he could think of a better script to write an ending to this game. “I’m very excited about it.”
Haden has been quite the find for the Steelers since they signed him off the Browns’ scrap heap. The Browns didn’t want to keep Haden because they believed he was injury-prone. But he’s started 38 of a possible 44 games for the Steelers and is a big part of a revamped secondary that is wreaking havoc with opposing quarterbacks on an almost weekly basis.
Haden’s interception was his second in the past four games. It also was the Steelers’ 30th forced turnover of the season.
It’s been a theme in the second half of the season after he failed to come up with the necessary plays late in games early in the season in losses to the Seahawks, 49ers and Ravens. Now, with a depleted offense that has trouble scoring, the defense knows the outcomes of games will be squarely on their shoulders.
“They were aware that it was going to come down to those moments for us this week, and they had to deliver it,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “They went about preparing with that in mind, and they were able to do it.”
The Steelers have won six of their past seven. Their past four wins have been decided by seven points or fewer. After struggling to win close games early in the season, it has become their specialty of late as they cling to the final AFC playoff berth.
“We’re a resilient group,” cornerback Mike Hilton said. “I’ll be honest, I don’t think a lot of teams would be in this position after the losses we’ve had. We’ve been through a lot. It just shows how resilient we are.”
The Steelers needed to be resilient yet again Sunday after falling behind by 10 in the first half. Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield started the game 9 for 11, but he completed just 9 of his final 21 pass attempts and finished with just 196 passing yards.
As the game wore on, Mayfield became less accurate, with his final pass being a wild overthrow that floated into Haden’s waiting arms.
“I saw he overthrew the ball,” Hilton said. “I knew if he overthrew it enough Joe would have a chance. He made a great diving catch to close the game out.
“I know Joe feels good about it. We all feel good about it. We’re keeping our playoff chances alive.”
Last week against Cincinnati, Haden dropped two interceptions against the Bengals late in the game. That made for a few harrowing moments as the Steelers eked out a 16-10 victory.
Haden worked on the JUGS machine last week in anticipation of another opportunity.
“If the ball came to me, I was going to be able to catch it, so it feels good,” he said.
The pick knocked his old team down to 5-7 in the standings and on the verge of playoff extinction yet again. The Steelers, meanwhile, improved to 7-5 and continue to control their playoff fate.
“I’m just excited,” Haden said. “I was there for a while, so you want to get back at them. But for the bigger picture, I’m just excited for my team, my guys. We went down to Cleveland, and they got us out of the way. When you’re playing a division opponent ,you always want to get those wins.
“I am just very, very excited I was able to catch the ball.”
First Published: December 2, 2019, 12:24 a.m.