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CLEVELAND — As it turned out, the Steelers didn't hit bottom last Sunday when they twice blew fouth-quarter leads to the Oakland Raiders.

The Steelers reached a new low by losing for the first time in Cleveland since 2000 and to a team that had just one victory prior to last night.

As a result of a 13-6 loss to the Browns on Thursday night, the Steelers have virtually assured that they won't get a chance to defend their Super Bowl title.

The Steelers, who were 6-2 in early November, are now 6-7. They need to win their last three games and then, get lot of help to make the playoffs as a wild-card team.

"Playoffs are pretty much over with. Right now, we are just playing with pride," said Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, who fought back tears after the game. "There is going to be a lot of gut checks for a lot of these guys."

Given how they have played since a resounding 28-10 win at Denver on Nov. 9, there isn't any indication that the Steelers will win a game the rest of the season much less three in a row to close out 2009.

The Steelers were overmatched by a team they had beaten 12 consecutive times prior to yesterday.

The Browns (2-11) outgained the Steelers, 255-212, and they sacked quarterback Ben Roethlisberger eight times.

When the Steelers needed a stop last night in the fourth quarter, they couldn't get one — such as when Joshua Cribbs ran for 14 yards on a third-and-11 play from the Steelers' 24-yard line with just over eight minutes left in the game.

"I think our fans are going to have a Merry Christmas," said Cribbs, who rushed for a game-high 87 yards on just eight carries. "There are a lot of Steelers fans around the city, so I hope people go to work and kick those Steeler fans."

The Steelers felt like kicking themselves after Roethlisberger led a late drive that ultimately stalled inside the Browns' 40-yard line.

"Frustrating. Disappointing. Embarrasing," Ward said after the game.

"I'm tired of this (expletive), man," an emotional Casey Hampton said.

The temperature was 15 degrees before kickoff, making it the coldest regular-season game the Steelers have played in since a Dec. 17, 1989 contest against the visiting Patriots.

Whipping winds dropped the wind-chill factor to minus-six degrees prior to kickoff.

The teeth-chattering and the fact that the home team is playing for pride at this point of the season probably accounted for plenty of seats at Cleveland Browns Stadium going unoccupied.

The Steelers proved to be the only thing colder than the weather in the first half.

They managed just 75 yards of total offense against a unit that entered the game last in the NFL in total defense. The Steelers would have been shut out in the first half had Roethlisberger not led them on a drive that resulted in a Jeff Reed field goal on the final play of the second quarter.

The Steelers' didn't exactly shine in the other two phases of the game.

They allowed Cribbs to return a punt 55 yards in the first quarter. That set up the first score of the game, a 29-yard field goal by Phil Dawson.

Poor coverage by Ike Taylor early in the second quarter resulted in a 37-yard reception by Mohamed Massaquoi. That led to another Dawson field goal.

The Browns took control of the game later in the quarter after the Steelers appeared to get their first break of the game.

Hank Poteat lost a fumble on a punt at the Browns' 44-yard line, but a holding penalty on Tyrone Carter negated the play.

The Browns made the most of their reprieve, as they drove 74 yards in eight plays and Chris Jennings' 10-yard run resulted in the first touchdown of the game. A 37-yard run by Cribbs, one in which he broke several tackles, proved to be the big play on a drive that resulted in the first touchdown by a Browns running back this season.

Reed field goals at the end of the first half and middle of the third quarter pulled the Steelers to within seven points.

The Steelers, however, could get no closer.

"We've found new and different ways to not rise up in critical situations," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

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