Steelers' 3rd consecutive win puts them squarely in AFC North race

CLEVELAND — Following a three-game losing streak with an equal number of consecutive wins has gotten the Pittsburgh Steelers back into hunt for the AFC North title.

The Steelers improved to 4-3 and switched places with the Cleveland Browns on Sunday as a result of their 15-10 victory at FirstEnergy Stadium.

With the Cincinnati Bengals’ upset loss to the New York Jets, the Steelers remain just one game behind division-leader Baltimore, which was idle. The Ravens are 5-2 and the Bengals 5-3, with the Browns bringing up the rear in the tightly contested division at 4-4.

“It’s days like today that gives you an indication of what you could be,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “We’ll continue to write that story positively or negatively, but today was a good day.”

The Steelers have had a few of them in the past month. Since losing three in a row, they have reeled off victories against the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks at home and the Browns, considered the preseason favorite to win the division, on the road.

It arguably was the Steelers’ most important win since they opened the season by beating Buffalo, viewed as one of the AFC’s premier teams.

“We came on the road, and we won a football game against a good team,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “Hopefully, that instills confidence in guys — young guys, older guys — letting us know we can do this thing. It’s not over, but there is a lot of road ahead of us.”

That road continues with a pair of home games, starting with a Monday night game against the 3-5 Chicago Bears. That is followed by a visit from the 0-8 Detroit Lions. After that, the Steelers play five of their final eight games on the road.

“We can’t worry or control what is out there,” Roethlisberger said. “We dug ourselves enough of a hole that we have to find a way to get out of it. We can’t worry about anything but us.”