All sorts of oddities in Steelers spooktacular victory over the Browns

The Steelers, who everyone had all but written off after the loss to the Packers, have now won three straight games, including Sunday’s win over Cleveland.

While Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Cleveland Browns was crucial regarding the AFC North standings, the game also had other significant consequences for the black and gold. The victory has potential significance for the Steelers regarding their playoff implications headed into the season’s latter stages. When they sat at 1-3 they only had a 11.1% chance of making the playoffs. Everything changed Sunday, and they now have a 40% chance of making the postseason.

Interestingly enough, looking at Steeler’s history, when they have started 4-3, they have managed to make the postseason eight times. However, they only have a 5-8 overall record in all of those appearances and no titles. They are 0-2 in AFC conference championship game appearances,  2-3 in divisional round appearances, and 3-3 in wild card games. By knocking off the Browns, they increased their chances of making the playoffs now, but history tends to show they won’t do well in the playoffs.

Steelers Tricks and Treats

The Cleveland game was another memorable Halloween victory for the Steelers as well. It was their first Halloween game since 2005 when they beat the Baltimore Ravens. Typically, Halloween brings the Steelers lots of treats as they have not lost on Halloween since losing to the Saints in 2010 and have only lost on Halloween twice since 1971. They are 5-4 lifetime on that spooky holiday. The Browns did play a mean trick, though, injuring Chris Boswell, leaving the Steelers without a placekicker for the second half of the game.