The Pittsburgh Steelers missed an opportunity to clinch the AFC North on Sunday, falling to the Browns in Cleveland for a fourth straight year.

Aaron Rodgers’ last-ditch drive came up 7 yards short. The Steelers drove inside the Browns’ 10 with less than a minute to go, but Rodgers threw three end-zone incompletions as Cleveland held on for a 13-6 win in wet and windy conditions.

The Browns grabbed an early 10-0 lead, scoring on each of their first two possessions. Though after Shedeur Sanders lofted a 28-yard touchdown to Harold Fannin Jr. to cap an 86-yard drive with a little more than five minutes left in the first quarter, the Browns’ offense struggled. Sanders threw two interceptions, and Cleveland failed to score points again until the final two minutes of the game, when Andre Szmyt made a short field goal set up by the Steelers turning it over on downs at their own 20-yard line.

Sanders finished 17-of-23 for 186 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Fannin left the game after his touchdown catch due to a groin injury and did not return.

The Steelers were equally inept offensively, particularly through the air. Operating without suspended No. 1 receiver DK Metcalf and injured No. 2 receiver Calvin Austin III, Pittsburgh was further limited when tight end Darnell Washington left the game early in the second quarter (Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said postgame that Washington broke his arm). Rodgers managed just 168 yards on 21-for-39 passing. Only 60 of Rodgers’ passing yards went to wide receivers, and he had just 110 yards going into the team’s final drive, which began with less than two minutes left.

The AFC North title will now come down to Week 18, when the Steelers face the Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh. The winner will host a wild-card playoff game, while the losing team’s season will end. (In the event of a tie next week, the division will go to Pittsburgh.)

A prime opportunity blown

The Steelers entered the weekend with two chances to clinch the AFC North. Neither game went their way. First, they didn’t get any help from Rodgers’ old team, as the Green Bay Packers lost to the Ravens Saturday night. Given a chance to handle their own business, the Steelers were unable to do so.

The defense settled in after spotting Sanders 10 points on their first two drives. But on a wet, gloomy day in Cleveland, the Steelers’ offense played one of its worst games of the season. Along with just 168 passing yards, Rodgers took two sacks, one of them pushing Chris Boswell back 5 yards for a fourth-quarter attempt when Pittsburgh trailed by four — Boswell’s 54-yarder came up short.

This is the second year in a row the Steelers have failed to capitalize on an opportunity to clinch the division with an AFC North road win. Last year, they lost in Week 16 in Baltimore in a so-called “shirt and hat game.” Tomlin, unprompted, brought up that loss during his Tuesday news conference. Still, the Steelers weren’t able to learn from their past mistake. Now, it all comes down to Week 18. —