Cleveland Browns Blowout Pittsburgh Steelers, Peter King, MMQB, Brian Hoyer, Alex Mack

Oct 12, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns running back Ben Tate (44) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the third quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Victory Monday and your Cleveland Browns are now 3-2 after handing the Pittsburgh Steelers a 31-10 defeat.

Bran Hoyer’s touchdown pass to Jordan Cameron  had us all going nuts, but credit to the defense, that contained Ben Roethlisburger while allowing just 10 points.

• This morning’s game ball goes to Brian Hoyer. He’s the reason a victory like this was possible, because the the Browns’ quarterback position has finally caught up to the Steelers.

It’s an advantage the Steelers have enjoyed since Big Ben’s rookie year in 2004, and finally, at long last, the gap has been closed.

The Browns level of dominance was so evident, that Hoyer only had to throw six times in the second half. He joked afterwards that he was “bored.” He ended the game just 8-of-17 for 217 yards and a TD, but it was way more than enough.

• No surprise here, but the Browns and Hoyer took a lot of Peter King’s attention in this morning’s MMQB column.

King wrote:

"“Hoyer’s running the ship so well that the immense story of the summer—When will Johnny Manziel take over the starting job?—has turned into an afterthought now. A single line under the Cleveland roster on the official NFL stat sheet said it all. Did Not Play: QB 2 J.Manziel.”"

• Thin on the defensive line, and with a a plethora of defensive backs listed as active, defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil and coach Mike Pettine schemed their way past the evasive two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback.

ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi wrote this in his analysis of the unit:

"“Necessity being the mother of invention, shorthandedness on the defensive front forced a gameplan steeped more in mixing coverages than in attacking Ben Roethlisberger. Bill Belichick proved this to be winning strategy over the years. Ben is just much better making plays evading rushers and beating blitzes than when he has to stand there and actually go through read progressions. Defenders had a season-high total of 10 passes defensed, led by Buster Skrine’s four.”"

• The 31-10 blowout score was the biggest margin of defeat against the Steelers since the Browns were reborn in 1999. Way back in 2003, Tim Couch led Cleveland to a 20-point win in his last good game wearing an orange helmet.

With such a historically significant win in our pockets, let’s take a look at a medium that was popular the last time the Browns played in an AFC Championship game.

Today’s Plain Dealer:

The Plain Dealer, Oct. 13, 2014.

One of the best parts of the game was seeing Browns’ owner Jimmy Haslam down on the sideline reveling in the team’s big win. It’s been a long time since the Browns have played the roll of conquerer, yucking it up on the sidelines while the other sideline tries to comprehend the beating it just took.

Memories of Hines Ward laughing on the sidelines while his team blew out the Browns are engrained in my memory, but wins like this, and seeing Pittsburgh headlines like this will slowly erase the memory.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 13, 2014.

• The team did suffer a big blow with the loss of center Alex Mack, who broke his leg Sunday and is likely out for the season, according to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.

John Greco replaced Mack and it could stay that way for the remainder of the season.

• Back to the good news: If the Browns keep winning, Pettine might have to invest in a smoking jacket:

The Browns get Jacksonville next Sunday on the road, and they will undoubtedly be the favorite. Onward to 4-2!