THE STORY: Pittsburgh, which has won five of six, can wrap up the AFC North and a first-round bye with a win. But if they lose, the Steelers could wind as the AFC’s final wild card team. Meanwhile, the Browns have lost three straight and may be looking for a new coach in the offseason. Eric Mangini is just 10-21 in two seasons with Cleveland and made a questionable decision to try an onside kick after halftime of last week’s 20-10 loss to Baltimore. As bad as they’ve been, the Browns have a chance to rain on the Steelers’ parade again. Last season, they beat the Steelers 13-6 in the regular-season finale to knock Pittsburgh out of playoff contention.
TV: 1 p.m. EST, CBS
OPENING LINE: Pittsburgh -5 ½, O/U 37 ½
WEATHER: Partly cloudy with highs in the 30s and a 20 percent chance of precipitation.
ABOUT THE BROWNS (5-10): The Browns are headed toward their second straight 5-11 season and it could spell the end of Mangini’s tenure. Although Cleveland has been competitive (seven of their 10 losses are by seven points or fewer), it will likely end 2010 with four straight losses. That’s in stark contrast to their promising finish of last season when the Browns won four straight. The lone bright spot has been RB Peyton Hillis, who has rushed for 1,164 yards and 11 touchdowns.
ABOUT THE STEELERS (11-4): The Steelers bounced back from a loss to the New York Jets by walloping the Carolina Panthers 27-3 on Thursday night. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 320 yards and a touchdown and the defense limited the woeful Panthers to just 119 yards. Pittsburgh is hoping to secure a first-round bye in order to give star safety Troy Polamalu more time to rest his injured Achilles. The Steelers are a completely different team when Polamalu is in the lineup. Over the last two seasons, the Steelers are 14-4 with Polamalu and just 6-7 without him. Pittsburgh can either wind up as the No. 2 seed or fall all the way to the No. 6 seed. If Pittsburgh loses and both the New York Jets and Baltimore win, the Steelers will be the AFC’s No. 6 seed.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Steelers WR Mike Wallace has recorded at least 100 yards in five of his last seven games, scoring five times in that span. Hillis was held to 35 yards on 12 carries against Baltimore and hasn’t scored in four games.
QUARTERBACKS: He’s no Tom Brady, but Ben Roethlisberger has gone a career-best 136 attempts without an interception. He’s also thrown for 1,358 yards and six touchdowns in that span. Roethlisberger is 28-7 against AFC North opponents, including 13-3 on the road. Rookie Colt McCoy threw two interceptions in his first career start against Pittsburgh in October. He threw only one in his next four starts, but was intercepted three times against Baltimore last week.
RECENT HISTORY: The Steelers have won 13 of the last 14 and 19 of the last 21 meetings. However, the Browns ended an eight-game losing streak to Pittsburgh with a 13-6 victory last December that knocked the Steelers out of playoff contention.
KEY INJURIES: Steelers: S Troy Polamalu (Achilles, questionable); LB LaMarr Woodley (knee, questionable); DE Aaron Smith (triceps, questionable); CB Bryant McFadden (hip, questionable); RB Mewelde Moore (knee, questionable). Browns: RB Peyton Hillis (ribs, probable).
LAST WORD: “You definitely don’t want to play next week, because anything can happen in the NFL, anybody can beat anybody” – Steelers DT Casey Hampton on the possibility of a loss knocking Pittsburgh into wild card weekend.