Call them the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time players.

The upstart Cleveland Browns gamely battled their nemesis, the Pittsburgh Steelers, tooth and nail. But they failed to hold onto a 21–6 first-half lead, as Phil Dawson’s 52-yard field-goal attempt fell just short in what ended up as a 31–28 Steelers win.

The game was billed as the proving grounds for the Browns, who had only won once in Pittsburgh since 1999 and lost at home to these same Steelers, 34–7, in Week 1 in Cleveland. In the feelgood world of education we live in, the Browns would earn high marks for effort, but ultimately a failing grade for end results.

It was a reversal of recent themes for the Browns, who had spent the past two weeks overcoming 14-and 15-point deficits against the Rams and Seahawks, respectively. Charged with protecting a 15-point lead, the defense — which was ranked in the bottom five in most major defensive categories coming in — couldn’t contain Ben Roethlisberger in the end.

The defensive task was to get pressure on Roethlisberger, and the sack-less Browns (they had only seven coming into the game all season) achieved that goal in spades, bringing him down a surprising four times. But in rushing the passer aggressively, the Browns’ defensive linemen broke the contain and let Roethlisberger get free. Three second-half TDs allowed the Steelers to finish off the Browns.

He not only rushed for a career-high 49 yards, including a 30-yard sprint right through the heart of the Browns’ defense, but Roethlisberger also got outside the pocket and away from pressure to complete 13 of 17 passes for 170 yards and two touchdown passes in the second half. The Browns held him to 10-for-18 with an interception in the first half.

The Browns’ offense is not free from reproach, either. After a scalding first half in which Derek Anderson (80 yards passing, three TD passes in the first 30 minutes) consistently checked down and threw short, taking what the Steelers gave him, things fell apart in the second half when the run game couldn’t get anything going, and Anderson’s accuracy escaped him.

In fact, Anderson was completely baffled in the second half. The Steelers continued to give him the short stuff, but he started aiming the ball and went 6-for-19 after halftime for only 43 yards as the Steelers mixed their coverages and disguised their blitzes well. Anderson found his rhythm in the final drive, hitting on four passes and spiking the ball three times, but Dawson’s attempt — which would have been the longest make in Heinz Field history — didn’t have the legs.

Neither, for that matter, did the Browns. They stormed out of the gates in this one and made people — namely the Steelers — pay serious attention. Their season has taken a similar path. Whether they can follow up a very promising 5–4 start with a run at a wild-card spot depends on how they rally from a game they could have won.

That said, there was much to like about the Browns’ performance. The offensive line, which has been the unsung anchor of the resurgence, was again stout, preventing the Steelers from sacking Anderson despite missing injured starter Seth McKinney. Braylon Edwards’s sterling touchdown catch in the first half was a Mikhail Baryshnikov special, as he toe-pointed his way into the end zone. Joshua Cribbs couldn’t quite pull an Eric Metcalf, but he did total 223 return yards (including a 100-yard TD), and forced the Steelers to kick away from him. And though the Browns’ defense gave way in the second half, its first-half work in the red zone was admirable, holding the Steelers to three field goals in three trips inside the 20.

With a favorable schedule ahead — not one remaining opponent has a winning record — the Browns are likely here to stay. They might have missed their chance to make a major statement yesterday. But the just-short-of-good Browns might be improved enough to make a run for a playoff spot.

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The Carolina Panthers will now go more than a year between home victories. With Sunday’s 20–13 loss to Atlanta, and with next week’s game occurring at Green Bay, the Panthers now have lost their past six home contests and haven’t won in Charlotte since a 15–0 victory over the Rams on November 19, 2006.

The Falcons caught the Panthers in an all-out blitz with no deep safeties, and Joey Harrington hit tight end Alge Crumpler for the winning score down the middle of the field in the final minute of the game. There have been whispers about Carolina head coach John Fox’s job possibly being in jeopardy. Though the Panthers amazingly remain in the NFC South race at 4–5, there are no indications that this is a playoff team.

Sources within the Panthers’ organization have said that the locker room has been a divided group this season. There is a strange mix of young and old, and the younger players — save for outstanding rookie linebacker Jon Beason — have not been stepping up as expected. It also hasn’t helped that the team has played four different quarterbacks, thanks to Jake Delhomme’s season-ending injury. The team also has activated a fifth, un-drafted rookie, Drew Olson, because of all the injuries.

It might not have been so terrible that one of the replacement quarterbacks, David Carr, wasn’t able to play yesterday (the Panthers played Vinny Testaverde instead). The same anonymous sources have said that Carr hasn’t exactly wowed the coaching staff with his work ethic, and reportedly hasn’t displayed great knowledge of the playbook, which has angered Carolina veterans.

Mr. Edholm, a senior editor at Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at eedholm@pfwmedia.com.