CLEVELAND — Don't look now, but the Cleveland Browns appear poised to end the NFL's longest active postseason drought.
With the Browns laying claim to a 17-9 lead late in the third quarter of their regular-season finale, the Pittsburgh Steelers took over the ball looking to cut -- or even tie -- Cleveland's advantage. But as Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph dropped back on a third and nine and locked in on JuJu Smith-Schuster, his pass attempt was intercepted by Cleveland defensive back M.J. Stewart, who proceeded to return the ball 30 yards to Pittsburgh's 20-yard line.
Four plays later, the Browns were back in the end zone, with a 3-yard Jarvis Landry touchdown run on an inside handoff giving Cleveland a 24-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
You can listen to the "Voice of the Browns" and 3News' Jim Donovan's call of both Stewart's interception and Landry's touchdown run in the video player above.
Entering Sunday's regular-season finale laying claim to a 10-5 record, the Browns would end the NFL's longest active postseason drought (17 years) with a win over the Steelers. Having already clinched the AFC North division title, Pittsburgh is resting several key players who didn't even make the trip to Cleveland, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, star linebacker T.J. Watt and defensive lineman Cam Heyward.
Should the Browns win on Sunday, they would then advance to next weekend's AFC Wild Card round for the first time since 2002 and the second time since re-entering the NFL in 1999. There, they could potentially find themselves in a rematch with the Steelers, who beat Cleveland 38-7 in the first matchup between the two teams in Week 6.
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