The celebration exhibited by Pittsburgh Steelers fans on Sunday was twofold.

Yes, their team won, but it also came at the expense of the hated Cleveland Browns.

Thanks to a strong finish last year and key acquisitions in the offseason, Cleveland was the popular pick to take the NFL by storm this season.

After 11 straight losing seasons and one playoff appearance since returning to the NFL in 1999, the Browns were going to shoulder the high expectations with a first-year coach, be on the right end of the most crucial plays of tight games and waltz into the playoffs and reach the Super Bowl for the first time in their history.

At least that's how many Cleveland fans saw the season playing out.

After a 2-6 start, the Browns resurrected their playoff hopes with three straight wins, including a 21-7 win over the Steelers last month on the shore of Lake Erie.

But Sunday's loss dealt a major blow to Cleveland's chances of reaching the postseason. Now 5-7, even if the Browns win their final four games, they would still need a lot of help from the teams facing Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Oakland and Indianapolis over the last month of the season.

You can't fault Steelers fans from gloating after their team helped put Cleveland and its fans in such a predicament.

As for Pittsburgh, many doubts have surrounded the Steelers in an injury-filled campaign. Star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was lost for the season to an elbow injury in Week 2. An 0-3 start was followed by a home loss to Baltimore, which sent the Steelers to 1-4. Backup quarterback Mason Rudolph showed promise in his first six starts, but under him, the offense became stagnant.

For the second time this season, Pittsburgh turned to an undrafted rookie, Devlin Hodges, as its starting quarterback on Sunday and he is now 2-0 in that role.

Wide Receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and running back James Conner remain out with injuries, but thanks in large part to an attacking and ball-hawking defense, this team continues to find ways to win.

But the Steelers still have a lot of work to do to make this season truly special. All of the scratching and clawing Pittsburgh has done to climb out of that early hole has not clinched anything. It simply has put the team in a position to control its own destiny.

But there's often a fine line between controlling your own fate and needing help to make the playoffs. The Steelers could quickly slip into the latter category with another loss.

Pittsburgh's final four games are far from a cakewalk. They play at Arizona Sunday. The Cardinals own just three wins, but no team starting a fourth-string quarterback should be looking past any opponent. In effect, that's what Hodges is. Remember, they cut him in August in favor of Josh Dobbs and re-signed him only after Dobbs was traded to Jacksonville in September. Even then, Hodges was just on the practice squad until Roethlisberger's injury.

The Steelers host the Bills in a Sunday night game Dec. 15. Buffalo (9-3) currently owns the top Wildcard spot. After that, Pittsburgh closes the season with two straight road games against the Jets and Ravens. Baltimore (10-2) has won eight straight and is playing the best football of any team in the NFL.

While it remains to be seen if Pittsburgh can reach the playoffs, Steelers fans are used to watching games in December that have a major impact on the postseason landscape. Thanks to a team that didn't quit like many other 1-4 teams without their starting quarterback would have, this year will be no different.

Pittsburgh is playing with house money. That, coupled with contributions from both expected and unexpected players on the roster, should make the next month very interesting.

Derek Pyda is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle