Browns: With a Steelers loss, the final game of the season matters as of now

The Steelers were looking like they’d roll into the Week 17 game in Cleveland against the Browns undefeated and ready to rest but not anymore.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns were expected to have a meaningless game come Week 17. The Browns couldn’t win the division, and the Steelers were expected to have home-field advantage clinched at this rate, after all, the Steelers were undefeated. That all changed after the Steelers lost to the Washington Football Team on Monday. Now the Steelers are only two games up on the Browns but more importantly, tied with the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC’s top record. Had they gone into the last game of the year against Cleveland, it’s very likely that Pittsburgh would have sat most of their starters at a certain point, but assuming the Chiefs and Steelers both avoid losses over the next three weeks, both teams may decide to try and win their last games in order to get that bye week.

Unlike past years, only the top seed in the AFC and NFC get byes to open up the first round of the playoffs. So if the Steelers finish in second, they’ll have to play the first week of the playoffs. That could be a problem, as the Steelers are banged up and offensively very weak. With mounting injuries to their defense as well, they could be a very desirable get in the opening round.

That means that the game that once looked like a gimmie for the Browns will now be super competitive, at least if things stay the same heading into the game. If the Steelers were to lose again, however, things would get even more interesting. The Browns would have an outside shot of winning the AFC North, assuming the Browns beat the Ravens, Giants, and Jets before Week 17 of course.

The Browns are in a spot they’ve not been in for quite some time, riding a four-game winning streak for the second time this season, they have a chance to finish with a whopping 13 wins if they continue to win out. Granted that’s getting a little ahead of ourselves.

What  Cleveland need to do is take this one day at a time, and should that Week 17 showdown with the Steelers come and both teams are fighting for more than just the pride of winning the rivalry, then Week 17 has the potential to be the biggest rivalry game these two teams may have ever played in the regular season.

Things could get real interesting.