It was a cold, snowy night in Cleveland, OH for the AFC North showdown between the Browns, who sat at 2-8 on the season, and the surging Steelers at 8-2 and atop the AFC North standings. On paper, this game looked to be a solid, relatively easy win for the Steelers. It was anything but that when the lights came on for the game. The Steelers stumbled and fumbled their way through a mess of a performance. A performance that included several questionable decisions from Mike Tomlin. From attempting a 58 yard field goal in a blizzard when punting made the most sense considering how the defense was playing at the time, to blowing through most of his second half timeouts and accepting penalties instead of declining them and forcing a fourth down. For all the positivity surrounding Mike Tomlin this year and the job he’s done with this team, it’s situations like this and games like these, that are the exact reason why he’s never won a Coach of the Year award.

It was a collective effort from the Steelers last night. Everybody struggled in some way. Russell Wilson gave up a costly fumble in the second half but outside of that, all things considered, he didn’t play terribly. The run game was repeatedly stuffed and Myles Garrett showed why he’s the reigning defensive player of the year with three first half sacks.

Cleveland absolutely deserved this win as they came out far hungrier than the Steelers. Jameis Winston made some clutch plays in big moments and Nick Chubb did enough on the ground to frustrate the defense. Jameis did have a really bad interception but as was the case for most of the night, the Steelers offense did nothing with it.

If the Steelers are to be taken seriously as a legitimate contender, they can’t continue to have games like this. Games in which the offense just essentially stays in the locker for most of the game and only appears when the game is slipping away. You can’t win against teams like the Chiefs and Bills when you play like that. There’s still plenty to play for and this game certainly doesn’t end their season as they remain in first place no matter what after this week’s games, but playing like this will get the Steelers ousted in the playoffs and stretch that playoff win drought to 8 years if they’re not careful.