BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns are only one loss away from the wrong kind of history.
The Browns suffered a 20-3 loss to the Chicago Bears (5-10) at Soldier Field last Sunday, which dropped them to 0-15 on the season, and they are one setback away from joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams in the history of the National Football League to finish a regular season at 0-16.
The Browns' 16th straight loss dropped the organization to a league-worst 1-30 since the opening game of 2016.
“This last weekend was tough,” offensive lineman Joel Bitonio said. “I thought we had a chance going into it with a good gameplan and stuff. We just did not play well in the conditions. There have been a lot of games where we have been in and I thought we had a chance, and this weekend was not one of them.
“We just did not play well as a team, and it was tough to swallow. It was Christmas Eve and you wanted to go home and celebrate. I was thinking to myself, 'Man, that one sucked.' We are another game closer now. It is a division rival, Pittsburgh. We have played them close recently. I know that, and I know they are clinched for a bye right now. I know we have come in here with the same mindset and we are putting together our best gameplan expecting their guys to go. We are going to give it a shot this week.”
The Browns have not won on a Sunday afternoon since December 13, 2015. The 32 straight Sunday losses are an NFL record, and their 4-48 mark in the last 52 outings is the worst in the league in that four-year span.
Already this season, the Browns set the record for the worst 28-game stretch in NFL history, as they bested the previous mark of 2-26 from the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the 1976-1977 seasons with a 1-27 showing that has gotten three losses worse since Week 13.
Despite the struggles that have come to the Browns in 2017, there is still one more chance to get a victory, and that opportunity comes against the AFC North Division Champion Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.
The Steelers have won five straight games over the Browns, and 13 in a row in Pittsburgh. Cleveland's last win in Pittsburgh came on October 5, 2003.
“You want that feeling of winning and you want that chance,” Bitonio said. “You are just like 'What can we do to make it happen?' It has been tough. You go out to town and you see fans that are disappointed and you feel bad for them, and then, your family is asking you about the games.
“It is hard for you to be like 'We just did not play well enough.' Things of that nature, it has just been tough. For the little portion after the game, all of my family is texting me, 'Good game.' In reality, I am like, 'Man, screw this. We just lost again.'”
