The Browns will have to sign another running back after losing Nick Chubb to a gruesome knee injury. Maybe Kareem Hunt returns. Or maybe they look in a different direction.
But Jerome Ford showed why their running game won’t disappear.
Ford went 69 yards, coming up inches short of a touchdown when Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick made a shoestring tackle, to set up the go-ahead score. Ford started right and then went back left and found no one in his way as he picked up a block from Deshaun Watson to slow Fitzpatrick.
Pierre Strong needed two runs to get the final yard for the score, and Watson scrambled into the end zone on the 2-point conversion. The Browns lead 22-19 with 10:01 remaining in the third quarter.
Ford has five carries for 75 yards.
Watson has completed 11 of 22 passes for 107 yards with a touchdown and an interception.