Steelers' incredible streak of avoiding the basement continues

Monday night's loss by the Browns carried with it an incidental benefit for the Steelers. The loss guaranteed that the Steelers won't finish in last place in the AFC North.

This means that the Steelers will continue a streak of not finishing in last place in their division that dates back to 1988.

In all the years since then, the Steelers have never had a season in which the wheels completely came off. It's an amazing run of consistent relevance.

The streak bridges the three coaches the Steelers have had since 1969. Chuck Noll coached from 1989 through 1991. Bill Cowher, from 1992 through 2006. And Mike Tomlin, since 2007.

Entering the season, the Steelers appeared to be the worst team in the division, on paper. But football isn't played on paper. The Steelers currently are in first place by 1.5 games.

No matter how the last five weeks play out, the Steelers definitely won't finish in fourth place.