Heading into Thursday night’s Divisional showdown between the 8-2 Pittsburgh Steelers and the 2-8 Cleveland Browns, the New England Patriots found themselves sitting with the sixth overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft ahead of this weekend.
But they ended up getting a slight bump after Mother Nature appeared to favor Cleveland to kick off the week, with that game turning into a whiteout as the snow got heavier as the night went on, giving the Browns a little help against their Division rivals.
Despite their record, the stadium was full, and Browns fans were fired up as they watched Jameis Winston put up 219 yards in the air, taking one in with his legs while running back Nick Chubb scored twice as Cleveland came away with a last-second 24-19 win against Russell Wilson and a Pittsburgh team that couldn’t make a big play to close this one out.
Trailing 19-18 with just over 3 minutes remaining, the Browns put together a 9-play, 44-yard drive that ended in a go-ahead touchdown, bringing the fans at Huntington Bank Stadium to their feet on what was certainly a crazy back-and-forth effort between the two teams. That play came with just over a minute to play, giving the Browns a 5-point lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Steelers had a final possession at the end of the game, but a Hail Mary attempt by Russell Wilson fell short, with the Browns holding on for just their third win of 2024.
The Browns improved to 3-8 on the season, while Pittsburgh fell to 8-3.
However, Cleveland’s win did New England a favor. While the two share the same record, the Browns opponents have a higher winning percentage (.511) than New England (.472), which gave the Patriots a bump in the 2025 NFL Draft order.
That saw the Patriots move up one spot from 6th overall to #5 overall. The Jets, who are also 3-8, are now just behind them at sixth overall with six games remaining.
The Patriots are currently preparing for a showdown of their own down in Miami on Sunday, with kickoff slated for 1:00pm ET.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
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