Browns get win over Steelers as week of uncertainty awaits: Dan Labbe

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns sent their location crowd distant happy successful 2025, winning their location finale against nan Steelers, 13-6, and forcing Pittsburgh into a win-and-in crippled against nan Ravens adjacent week.

Now it’s disconnected into a week of uncertainty arsenic nan Browns wrap up their play pinch a meaningless matchup against nan Bengals successful Week 18.

It commencement pinch caput coach Kevin Stefanski and his early here. Two offseasons ago, he signed an hold alongside GM Andrew Berry. That hold and nan Deshaun Watson debacle yet helped prevention him aft a 3-14 play successful 2024.

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It’s a harder waste aft different disappointing twelvemonth that included losses to nan Jets and Titans successful nan 2nd half of nan season. The team’s biggest nonaccomplishment has been connected Stefanski’s broadside of nan ball.

While it’s notable that nan Browns person put distant bully efforts arsenic this play limps to its finish, meaningless games successful December shouldn’t outweigh meaningful games nan squad mislaid early successful nan season.

There’s backmost uncertainty, too. Shedeur Sanders continues mixing committedness pinch maddening mistakes. He started disconnected hot, showing disconnected his accuracy downfield and willinginess to push nan shot deep.

He besides was astir picked disconnected by Nick Herbig connected a lob to tight extremity Blake Whiteheart that should person been a pick-six -- Herbig dropped it -- and past was picked disconnected connected an inexcusable propulsion successful Jerry Jeudy’s guidance that Kyle Dugger picked off.

Those throws mightiness person worked successful college, but they won’t alert astatine this level.

Maybe he learns from it and breaks those habits, but will nan Browns rotation nan dice connected that if it intends passing connected picking a backmost precocious successful nan 2026 draft?

Speaking of that draft, we don’t moreover cognize who is coming retired and wherever nan Browns will beryllium picking yet. They guidelines to suffer immoderate valuable draught position aft this win. It yet mightiness not beryllium up to them.

We can’t moreover opportunity for definite who would beryllium making that determination successful April. GM Andrew Berry seems safe, fixed he conscionable had his champion draft. He’s besides responsible for building nan Browns violative line, wide receiver and backmost rooms this season, each of which person been disappointing.

The Browns changes past play consisted of handing nan keys of nan discourtesy backmost to Stefanski, who promoted Tommy Rees to violative coordinator. Rearranging nan platform chairs again this offseason will beryllium difficult to waste to a fanbase who has grown tired of their team’s bad discourtesy and their caput coach’s non-answers.

It’s apt we won’t cognize for judge wherever this is headed betwixt now and nan extremity of adjacent week’s crippled successful Cincinnati.

It will conscionable beryllium uncertainty for a squad erstwhile again playing retired a mislaid season.

Dan Labbe has been a Browns newsman since 2016. A postgraduate of Kent State University, he started astatine cleveland.com successful 2006 and has held various roles, including sports shaper and societal media producer. Prior...