NFL: Browns sign off winless, Buffalo Bills break playoff drought

Cleveland signed off on a season a perfect futility with their 16th defeat in 16 games while Buffalo broke their playoff drought.

Buffalo Bills tight end Nick O’Leary, left, celebrates his touchdown against Miami. Picture: AP

Cleveland ended a season of perfect futility on New Year’s Eve with a 28-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers that made the Browns just the second team to go 0-16 in an NFL campaign.

Even with star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Le’Veon Bell sitting out, the Steelers were too much for the Browns — who put up a valiant fight but couldn’t avoid joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams to lose every game in a 16-game season.

“This is going to stay next to my name, this organisation’s name, this team’s name for the rest of our lives,” said Browns head coach Hue Jackson. “Nobody wants that. I can’t do anything about it.

“We tried. We didn’t do it. We didn’t finish. We’ll wear it until we can take it off, but we’ll take it off soon. I promise you that.”

After Pittsburgh took a quick 14-0 lead, Cleveland rallied to level the scores at 21-21 early in the third quarter.

But on the ensuing kick-off, JuJu Smith-Schuster returned for 96 yards for a touchdown to put the Steelers ahead 28-21.

Cleveland managed to tack on a 51-yard field goal.

But they couldn’t capitalise on their chances in the fourth quarter. Miscues included Duke Johnson Jr’s fumble on the Pittsburgh 31-yard-line, a DeShone Kizer interception by Sean Davis and a heartbreaking dropped pass by Corey Coleman on a fourth-down-and-two play on the Pittsburgh 11-yard line.

Rookie quarterback Kizer had avoided a sack and threw to the wide-open Coleman, but he dropped the ball for what would have been a first-down with 1:46 to play. Instead, the Steelers were able to run out the clock, and the botched play will be remembered as emblematic of the entire dispiriting season.

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus watched his grandson score a touchdown as the Buffalo Bills snapped the longest playoff drought in North American professional sports when they qualified for the NFL post-season on New Year’s Eve.

The Bills were last in the playoffs in 1999, but after 17 fruitless seasons they gave themselves a chance with a 22-16 win over the Miami Dolphins on the last day of the regular season.

Wearing Bills gear and a smile, Nicklaus was in the stands as his grandson, Buffalo tight end Nick O’Leary, caught Tyrod Taylor’s 26-yard touchdown pass. Buffalo punctuated the victory with a one-yard touchdown run by defensive tackle Kyle Williams, who is in his 12th and perhaps final season with the Bills.

The victory, however, was not enough for Buffalo, who also needed Cincinnati to beat Baltimore. They nervously watched on television in the locker room in Miami as Bengals’ quarterback Andy Dalton connected on fourth down with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd to earn a 31-27 win at the death and send Buffalo’s players into delirium.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Buffalo coach Sean McDermott said.

Buffalo were not the only team to seal their playoffs spot on the final day of the season with the Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans also winning their respective games to earn their way into the post-season.

Tennessee beat the Jaguars 15-10 in Nashville, while the Falcons, last year’s Super Bowl losers, also snuck in with a 22-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

The top two seeds, who earn a first-round bye, in the AFC had already been decided, though the New England Patriots had to win on Sunday, which they duly did over the New York Jets, to take the No 1 spot ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles had already locked up top seed, though after a 6-0 loss against Dallas on Sunday they enter the post-season as underdogs with first-choice quarterback Carson Wentz out with a knee injury. The Minnesota Vikings clinched the second NFC seed with victory over the Chicago Bears.

Agencies