Steelers hurting, but have enough to beat Browns

Steelers hurting, but have enough to beat Browns

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

They’re bruised, limping and not close to being healthy. The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t themselves.

But they are going to the playoffs.

At this point, that’s all that matters.

Isaac Redman replaced injured starting running back Rashard Mendenhall and scored a touchdown, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger made enough big plays on his sprained ankle and Pittsburgh hobbled into the postseason with a wind-whipped 13-9 win Sunday over Cleveland, the Steelers’ 16th victory in 17 games against the Browns.

Redman scored on a 7-yard run in the third quarter for the Steelers (12-4), who finished tied with Baltimore for first in the AFC North but lost the tiebreaker because the Ravens beat them twice.

But the Steelers are in the playoffs as a wild card and will face the Broncos in Denver next week.

The Browns are the only AFC North not prepping for the playoffs. Not this season. Not again. Not even close.

“Now is the time to go out and play our best football,” said Roethlisberger, who went 23 of 40 for 221 yards on his gimpy left ankle. “If you are a great team, you have to win on the road.”

The Steelers may be without Mendenhall, their leading rusher.

He was hurt on the final play of the first quarter, when he went down after a 5-yard gain and immediately grabbed his right knee. Mendenhall walked slowly to the sideline. He didn’t return.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin made it sound as if Mendenhall could miss the postseason.

“It’s not good, of course, when a guy goes down in open grass and is not touched by anyone,” Tomlin said. ‘’Experience tells me that in general that’s not good.

“You should anticipate that he won’t be participating next week,” Tomlin said.

The Steelers survived two fumbles by Redman in the second half and then held their breath on the final play when Browns quarterback Seneca Wallace floated a pass into a crowd in the back of the end zone. Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu came over the top and got his hand on the ball before rookie wide receiver Greg Little could grab it, allowing the Steelers to escape.

The Browns (4-12) lost their last six games and nine of 10 under first-year coach Pat Shurmur. Cleveland was competitive — the Browns lost their final three games by a combined 13 points — but wound up with one less win that last season.

“We intended to win a lot more games than that,” said cornerback Joe Haden. “The only thing that kept us going is we didn’t really get blown out in any games. We need to find a way to come up with a big play, come up with the big stop, the big score and the season would be totally different.”

Shaun Suisham made two field goals for the Steelers, who won 12 games for the second year in a row, something they haven’t done since 1978-79. They won the Super Bowl both those years.

Phil Dawson kicked three field goals for all of Cleveland’s points.

Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison was well-behaved. He was credited with three tackles, but none of them will need to be reviewed by commissioner Roger Goodell.

With the score tied 6-6 in the third, Polamalu’s interception of Wallace at Cleveland’s 43 set up the Steelers’ go-ahead score.

“Troy made a great play,” said Wallace, who went 16 of 41 for 177 yards as Colt McCoy’s replacement. “I probably shouldn’t have thrown it.”

Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward had five catches and became the eighth player in NFL history to reach 1,000 career catches.

Roethlisberger improved to 14-1 all-time vs. the Browns.