PITTSBURGH -- Forget the 0-4 start. Forget the remarkable finish, the one that kept the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoff picture until the final minutes of the regular season. Theres no such thing as partial credit in the NFL. "We were an 8-8 team," safety Troy Polamalu said. One that will spend January at home for a second straight year. LeVeon Bell ran for 90 yards and a touchdown as the Steelers drubbed the lifeless Browns 20-7 on Sunday, though Pittsburghs bid to become the second team in NFL history to go winless in September and make the playoffs ended when San Diego edged Kansas City 27-24 in overtime. "We are going to build on this," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "I think we have put together a good foundation." One that went 6-2 over the final eight weeks, recovering from a potentially franchise-altering 55-31 loss to New England on Nov. 3 to play perhaps the best football in the AFC by someone not named Denver over the second half. Or, the exact opposite of what happened in Cleveland, which fired first-year coach Rob Chudzinski hours after the game. The Browns (4-12) lost their final seven games and 10 of their last 11. Not exactly the step forward new owner Jimmy Haslam was looking for with a roster littered with five Pro Bowl players. "We needed to see progress with this football team," the Browns said in a statement after firing Chudzinski. "We needed to see development and improvement as the season evolved and, unfortunately, we took a concerning step backward in the second half of the year. "Our fans deserve to see a consistently competitive team. We have high standards, and theres an urgency for success. When we believed we were not positioned to achieve significant progress in 2014, we knew we had to admit that a change was needed, and move forward." Chudzinskis players did something after the game they failed to do during it: rally around their coach. "Its just absurd to me that a report would be out like that, about a good coach like that," Browns linebacker DQwell Jackson said. "Its crazy, and that (ticked) me off when I heard that." Cleveland didnt exactly play angry while letting the Steelers roll to victory for the 26th time in 31 meetings since the Browns were revived in 1999. Roethlisberger passed for 179 yards and a touchdown against two interceptions as Pittsburgh won its third straight to avoid the franchises first losing season since 2003. "Guys just kept fighting," Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward said. "Wasnt anything glorious or something beautiful, we just came out of nowhere." Jason Campbell completed 23 of 41 passes for 240 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Josh Gordon caught seven passes for 82 yards to finish with an NFL-high 1,646 yards receiving, a first for the franchise. It proved little solace on a wet, miserable day at Heinz Field in which Cleveland looked very much like the same old Browns. Cleveland was largely noncompetitive over the seasons final three months, with seven losses by a touchdown or more, including two to the Steelers by a combined 47-18. There is no sense of panic in Pittsburgh. A season that appeared teetering on embarrassment after the record-setting loss to the Patriots ended up with a decidedly rosier finish. The Steelers scored on the opening drive, a 9-yard strike from Roethlisberger to Jerricho Cotchery, and it was more than enough. Whenever the Browns threatened, they found a way to botch it. Twice they failed on fourth-down attempts in Pittsburgh territory and didnt reach the end zone until Campbell found Fozzy Whitaker on a 35-yard pass with 2:46 remaining. By then most of the attention had turned to the scoreboard, where the biggest roars were saved for scores by the Bengals and Jets, who then won to boost Pittsburghs playoff chances. Kansas City nearly did the same, but Ryan Succop missed a 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds left in regulation and San Diego survived. Still, the Steelers remain convinced better days lay ahead, thanks in part to Bells rapid development. He broke Hall of Famer Franco Harris team record for total yards from scrimmage by a rookie by combining for 96 yards in the muck at Heinz Field. Bell finished with 1,259 total yards in just 13 games, 24 more than the mark of 1,235 Harris set in 1972. Bells 5-yard touchdown burst in the second quarter, which included a nifty spin move in the backfield, gave the Steelers a 14-0 lead at the break. It capped an 87-yard drive in which he touched the ball 10 times in 14 plays. That was plenty for a rejuvenated defence that sacked Campbell three times, including a strip fumble by defensive end Brett Keisel, likely playing his final regular-season game of his 12-year career with Pittsburgh. Despite the outcome, Keisel isnt closing the door on a return. "I still feel like I can play," Keisel said. "You know, well see." Just not until 2014. NOTES: Brown caught nine passes for 97 yards to finish with 110 receptions on the season, narrowly missing the club mark of 112 set by Hines Ward in 2012. ... Roethlisberger finished with 4,261 yards passing, the second-highest total in team history to his 4,328 in 2009. Offcial Jerseys .Y. - Carey Price had an early feeling that one goal might be enough to settle the latest matchup between his Montreal Canadiens and longtime Original Six foe, the New York Rangers. China Jerseys . -- Billy Andrade hasnt played much competitive golf over the past four years. https://www.cheapjerseysjustwholesale.com/.C. -- After turning Tobacco Road into "Raleigh Top," Tennessee is headed to the round of 16. Soccer Jerseys .com) - The San Francisco Giants delivered plenty of big hits to tie the World Series. Stitched Jerseys . Nathan Beaulieu, Tomas Jurco, Danick Gauthier and Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist each as the Sea Dogs extended the longest streak in the Canadian Hockey League this season.OWINGS MILLS, Md. - The Baltimore Ravens realize their collapse against the San Diego Chargers probably created a rockier path to the playoffs.The 34-33 defeat Sunday did not, however, severely damage their chances of returning to the post-season after last years 8-8 struggle.Baltimore (7-5) stands tied for second place in the AFC North with Cleveland and Pittsburgh behind Cincinnati (8-3-1), which still has two games left against the Steelers.The Chargers are the only team in the wild-card hunt at 8-4, but theyve got a tough schedule in December: New England, Denver, San Francisco and Kansas City.So the Ravens have reason to be optimistic, even after blowing a 10-point advantage in the final six minutes of a rare home defeat.We had a real opportunity to capitalize if wed have held that lead. It would have put ourselves in good position, coach John Harbaugh said Monday. But we find ourselves in good position anyway, the way its shaking out. Its going to be very competitive (and) down to the wire to make the playoffs, to win the division, and we are in the thick of it.Baltimore travels to Miami on Sunday. After that, the Ravens host Jacksonville, travel to Houston and wrap up the regular season at home against Cleveland.We have a huge game down in Miami this week, Harbaugh said. There will a lot on the line and theyll be ready and theyre good. Well have a great opportunity to make a move.For Baltimore to reach the post-season, its pass defence must improve. Philip Rivers threw for 383 yards and four touchdowns to bring San Diego back and saddle the Ravens with their first home loss in November since 2009.Baltimore defensive co-ordinator Dean Pees tried just about everything to stop Rivers, including rotating cornerbacks and calling a variety of blitzes.Nothing worked. The Chargers converted nine of 11 third-down trries and punted only once.ddddddddddddWeve got to make some plays back there, Harbaugh said. We had a couple things that were issues as far as assignments. We didnt play the routes a couple times right, gave up a couple big plays. Thats really what it boils down to. The other balls were contested balls and contested catches for the most part.It wasnt just the secondary. Rivers threw 45 times and was sacked only twice, and on one of them he got back to the line of scrimmage.We didnt hit him enough, defensive end Chris Canty said. He was able to get the ball out on time to his receivers. We take great pride in being able to rush the passer, but we didnt make enough plays up front and help our guys on the back end enough. That hurt us.Penalties were a factor, too. The Ravens were flagged a whopping 14 times for 98 yards, with many of the fouls coming at the absolute most inopportune time.Two of those penalties occurred during the final, decisive drive. A sack of Rivers was wiped out when linebacker Elvis Dumervil was offside, and a pass interference call against Anthony Levine set up Rivers game-winning, 1-yard touchdown throw with 38 seconds remaining.We have a category we call foolish penalties, Harbaugh said. We had too many of those unnecessary penalties that you dont gain anything from and cost us. Unfortunately, the penalties that we had, especially on defence, were the ones that gave them a chance to extend those drives.After the Ravens went up 30-20, Daryl Smith was called for holding on a third-down incompletion. Rivers threw a touchdown pass on the next snap.Plays like that made watching the film Monday tough to take.Were better than that, Harbaugh said. We can do better than that, and that was a disappointing part of it.___Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '