Steelers foil their playoff spoilers

CLEVELAND -- If the Pittsburgh Steelers don't qualify for the NFL playoffs this year, it won't be because of an early-season loss to the Cleveland Browns.
In the past two seasons, the team that did the most damage to the Steelers' playoff hopes was the expansion Browns.
In 1999, Pittsburgh appeared to be on its way to a postseason berth when the Browns stunned a Three Rivers Stadium crowd with a 16-15 upset on Phil Dawson's field goal as time expired.
That loss sent the Steelers spiraling downward and led to quarterback Kordell Stewart's late-season benching two years after he had guided them to the AFC Championship Game.
Last year, Pittsburgh was poised to force overtime in Week 2 at Cleveland Browns Stadium when quarterback Kent Graham was sacked with no timeouts remaining, preventing the field-goal unit from having enough time to set up.
The Steelers recovered from an 0-3 start to challenge for a wild-card berth, missing it by one game. Guess which loss hurt the most?
Upstarts: Sunday, the Browns, one of the NFL's most pleasant surprises this fall, could have created a three-way logjam between themselves, the Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC Central Division.
They almost pulled it off, creating enough Pittsburgh mistakes to force overtime and plant seeds of doubt in the Steelers' minds.
But the Steelers saved themselves when running back Jerome Bettis dominated in overtime, setting up Kris Brown's game-winning field goal.
"It was important for us to get back to running," Bettis said. "It's the bread-and-butter of our offense. I just wanted the football."
Bettis' first overtime carry gained 27 yards to the Browns' 45. Six more Bettis carries plus a Kordell Stewart run put the Pittsburgh at the Browns 9 where Brown ended his nightmarish week.
Last week, Brown suffered the worst day of his three-year career. Three of his tries against the Ravens went wide right. Another one was blocked as the Steelers lost 13-10 and a chance to open up a huge division lead on the defending Super Bowl champions.
Luck was in Brown's corner Sunday, at least in the opponent. Before his miss in the fourth quarter, he had connected on 17 consecutive kicks against Cleveland.
Rare miss: But after four successful field goals, Brown missed -- wide left.
"I just pulled it off to the left," Brown said. "I tried playing it right down the right upright because the wind was blowing a little bit. I hit a good ball, right where I wanted it, but it just did not go in."
Brown had little time to fret because Pittsburgh pounded the ball in the extra session against the Browns' weary defenders.
Brown's kick won the game, but the 163 yards that Bettis rushed for and the work of the Steelers defense in the second half were keys.
"We knew coming it that it would be a close game," Bettis said. "Cleveland is a tough football team."
With the win, the Steelers are a game ahead of the 5-3 Ravens who play the Titans tonight.
With five of their remaining games at Heinz Field, the Steelers control their destiny. Except for their Dec. 9 date at home against the 6-3 New York Jets and their Dec. 16 game at Baltimore, the remaining opponents have records at .500 or less.
As for the Browns, their dreams of a playoff spot in their third season after expansion were dealt a harsh blow by Sunday's loss.
With five of their remaining eight games on the road, Cleveland (4-4) must win their home games against the Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars plus road games at New England and Tennessee to get to nine wins.
A win in the season finale at Pittsburgh's Heinz Field also is a possibility, but only if the Browns find a successful way to shut down "The Bus."
XTom Williams is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at williams@vindy.com.