3 Takeaways from Browns' Week 17 Win

At long last, the Cleveland Browns are heading back to the NFL playoffs.

After failing to reach the postseason since the 2002 season (the longest active playoff drought in the NFL), the Browns secured their spot in this year's 14-team field with a 24-22 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland on Sunday.

Now, the AFC North rivals will meet again in the Wild Card Round this upcoming Sunday night in Pittsburgh.

Although the Steelers rested Ben Roethlisberger, they still gave the Browns a close game at the end, scoring a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns after falling behind by 15 points. However, Pittsburgh couldn't score a game-tying two-point conversion with 1 minute, 23 seconds left, and Cleveland held on for the victory.

The Browns are the No. 6 seed in the AFC and will travel to Heinz Field to face the No. 3-seeded Steelers for the third meeting between the teams this season.

Here are three takeaways from Cleveland's win in Sunday's regular-season finale.

Mayfield Came Up Clutch When He Needed to Late

Ron Schwane/Associated Press

Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield didn't have his biggest game of the season, going 17-for-27 for 196 yards and a touchdown. However, when Cleveland needed to make a play to halt Pittsburgh's momentum and prevent a comeback win, he came up big for his team.

On a 3rd-and-2 at Pittsburgh's 42-yard line with 1:10 to go in the fourth quarter, the 25-year-old picked up three yards on a designed run to the right side, sealing the victory for the Browns.

At the start of that drive, the Steelers had scored 13 straight points and had all three timeouts. So, if Cleveland had gone three-and-out, Pittsburgh could have gotten the ball back and driven down the field for a game-winning field goal.

"I heard the play call over on the sideline. [Backup quarterback] Case Keenum told me. I thought he was joking at first because I didn't hear it from [head coach] Kevin [Stefanski]," Mayfield said, according to Kyle Kelly of Browns Wire. "But then he called it and I was like, 'You know what, let’s do it.' Whatever it takes. It was a great play call."

Before rushing for a season-high 44 yards on Sunday, Mayfield had only 121 yards on the ground through the first 15 games of the year, so it makes sense why the third-year quarterback may have been surprised by the call for him to run it. However, it worked and proved to be one of the biggest plays of the game.

Now, Mayfield is heading to the playoffs for the first time since Cleveland took him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.

It's Been Another Special Season for Chubb

David Richard/Associated Press

Even though Nick Chubb missed four games this season due to a right knee injury, it didn't stop him joining some illustrious company in the Browns record books.

With his 47-yard touchdown run on Sunday, the 25-year-old became the third Cleveland running back to rush for 12 touchdowns in a season, joining Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly, according to Dan Murphy of the Browns' public relations staff.

Chubb got into the end zone for the sixth consecutive game and rushed for 108 yards on 14 carries, making it the first time that he went over 100 yards on the ground since Week 12. He finished the regular season with 1,067 rushing yards, marking the second straight season that he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the ground. (He came up just short with 996 rushing yards as a rookie in 2018.)

"It is definitely a special moment for me, but I can't take all the credit," he said, per Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com. "The O-line does a tremendous job blocking and opening up holes. It is a team stat for me to hit 1,000 yards. I thank everyone for that."

On Sunday, his touchdown run was the first score of the game, giving Cleveland a 7-0 lead 5:31 into the opening quarter. The Browns led the rest of the way, as Chubb played a key part in helping them get off to a strong start, rushing for 61 yards on their opening possession.

While Cleveland utilizes a two-headed rushing attack with Chubb and Kareem Hunt, the former has been more effective of late.

Perhaps if the Georgia product continues to have the hot hand, he'll get even more carries as the Browns try to make a deep postseason run.

The Browns Likely Need to Play Better to Beat Steelers Again

David Richard/Associated Press

The Steelers are a strong team, as they ended up 12-4 and won the AFC North title. But they also had little at stake on Sunday, which is why they rested Roethlisberger and started backup quarterback Mason Rudolph.

Pittsburgh could have moved up to the No. 2 seed, but that wouldn't have changed the fact that it would be hosting a Wild Card Round game.

It's not a secret that the Steelers are a better team when Roethlisberger is under center, and they're likely much tougher to play when they have more at stake. So, if the Browns hope to notch another win against them, they'll likely need to play better, considering they only won by two points this time.

When the two teams met in Pittsburgh in Week 6, the Steelers cruised to a 38-7 victory. They opened the game with 24 straight points, and the Browns never mounted much of a comeback attempt.

On Sunday, Cleveland allowed 394 total yards, which included 315 through the air by Rudolph. If the Browns' pass defense doesn't fare better against Roethlisberger, they could be in for a tough night. They also didn't get to Rudolph often, recording only one sack.

Still, Cleveland has proved it's a strong team by going 11-5 in the regular season. And after the franchise had waited so long to get back to the playoffs, the team should be motivated to hand its AFC North rivals another loss.