Tomlin has never finished below .500 thx to the Browns

[Sonny9]

In 2012, 2013, and 2022 the Steelers went into the final week needing a win in order to not fall below 500. Each time they beat the Browns in Pittsburgh

[Crazy Packers Fan]

I've often wondered if the Steelers have had a competitive advantage over the Bengals and Ravens due to them being scheduled against the hapless Browns in Week 17 more often than not in the "season ending with a division game" era (2010-present). Pittsburgh faced Cleveland in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017, before the NFL finally started rotating the teams around. In most of those years, the Browns were terrible. They were simply playing out the string by then, while the Steelers usually had something to play for. It was pretty much an automatic win tacked on to the end of Pittsburgh's schedule.

[sluggermatt15]

^In the 2016 and 2017 games, the Steelers rested most of their offensive starters (Landry Jones started at QB for both games) and the Steelers still won.

[Crazy Packers Fan]

^In the 2016 and 2017 games, the Steelers rested most of their offensive starters (Landry Jones started at QB for both games) and the Steelers still won.

Yeah, that 2017 game it seemed to me like the Steelers wanted the Browns to win, and Cleveland couldn't pull it off. The Steelers did whatever they could to lay down in that game, yet the Browns blew it. Which further boosts my point about the competitive advantage they had - neither the Bengals nor the Ravens would be that easy to defeat with Landry Jones.