Steelers hope for final win against Cleveland this week
The Pittsburgh Steelers season is officially not over, as they have one more game this year against the Steelers in Pittsburgh this Sunday. The Steelers are, however, not going to make the playoffs this season. The team is usually an NFL staple for the playoffs, and this year marks the first year since 1999 that a Pennsylvania team has not been in the playoff hunt. The Steelers will face the Browns on Sunday and will look to at least even their record up at 8-8 to end the season.
The Steelers playoff dreams officially ended last week in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals at home. The game ended 13-10 in a bitter defensive struggle. The Steelers have had the number one defense in the league, but their offense has struggled under 1st year offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Ben Roethlisberger has been outspoken about Haley this season before the year began and during and it appears that he never fully embraced the system.
If the Steelers hope to avoid a losing season they must get past the Cleveland Browns who have lost two straight games. Last week they lost to the Broncos on the road and the week before they were knocked off by the Redskins in Cleveland. The Browns did beat the Steelers when they met in Cleveland earlier in the year though. In that game, the Browns forced 8 turnovers against Steeler backup Byron Leftwich. The Browns will be certainly motivated as they look to sweep the Steelers in this year’s series, which is something they have not done since coming back into the league in 1999.