BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns are two road losses from tying the NFL record of 26 in a row.
Which is a problem.
But the Browns' bigger problem is this: If they are going to end their 24-game road losing streak, they'll have to do it in their personal House of Horrors: Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
That stadium has caused the Browns myriad headaches, most of them migraines.
It is the site of the last game of three Browns coaches, and the site where the NFL's approach to concussions changed. It's a place where the Browns have not won since 2003, which coincidentally or not means they have not won in Pittsburgh since Ben Roethlisberger was taken by the Steelers in the 2004 draft -- after the Browns passed on him to take Kellen Winslow Jr.
Since 2003, the Browns have gone to Pittsburgh with seven different coaches and started 11 different quarterbacks; Baker Mayfield makes it a dozen.
They have not started the same quarterback two years in a row since Colt McCoy in 2010 and 2011. Mayfield becomes the eighth different starter in the past eight trips.
Meanwhile Roethlisberger is 10-0 vs. the Browns at home (he missed games when Pittsburgh had already clinched a playoff spot), 11-0 if including the game when the Browns knocked Landry Jones out of the game in the first quarter and Roethlisberger took over and threw for 379 yards and three touchdowns. Roethlisberger's 21-2-1 overall record against the Browns is the third-best won-lost percentage (.896) against any one team in the Super Bowl era (Tom Brady is .903 against the Bills, Bob Griese was .900 against Buffalo).
The rundown that begins after Tim Couch's high-water mark and a 33-13 win in 2003 is not pretty. The Browns' 14-game losing streak is the longest active road losing streak against one opponent.
Here's a look at the macabre:
2004: 34-23 final, Butch Davis (coach) and Jeff Garcia (quarterback)
This game wasn't nearly as close as the final score. Pittsburgh led 34-13 early in the third quarter.
2005: 34-21, Romeo Crennel and Trent Dilfer
The Browns led 7-0 early but were behind 27-7 by the fourth quarter. This one-sided affair led to ridicule from linebacker Joey Porter, as the Browns scored with 21 seconds left.
2006: 27-7, Crennel and Derek Anderson
A Thursday night game played in sub-zero wind chill was totally one-sided in favor of Pittsburgh.
2007: 31-28, Crennel and Anderson
The Browns led 28-24 after a 100-yard kickoff return from Josh Cribbs, but the Steelers scored with 3:13 left. Phil Dawson's 52-yard field goal to tie with 10 seconds was no good. This was the last season the Browns finished with a winning record.
2008: 31-0, Crennel and Bruce Gradkowski
Injuries forced the Browns to start Gradkowski after he had signed with the team earlier in the week. He went 5-for-16 for 18 yards with two interceptions and three sacks. The Browns had 126 total yards. Crennel was fired after this loss.
2009: 27-14, Eric Mangini and Anderson
Anderson threw for 122 yards.
2010: 28-10, Mangini and Colt McCoy
The Browns considered this a positive because McCoy played well in his first start, throwing for 281 yards. Mangini was fired at the end of this season, after losing to Pittsburgh 41-9 at home.
2011: 14-3, Pat Shurmur and McCoy
This was the game when James Harrison lowered his helmet and drove it into McCoy's jaw after McCoy had thrown a pass. Nobody on the Browns or with the league noticed the hit, and McCoy went back in the game with a concussion. The NFL installed the neutral observer in the press box as a result of this game.
2012: 24-10, Shurmur and Thad Lewis
This started a tradition of third-stringers starting the season finale. Pittsburgh had 212 total yards and was outgained by the Browns 320-212, but still won. Shurmur was fired after this game.
2013: 20-7, Rob Chudzinski and Jason Campbell
Chudzinski was fired after the game, after one season, and in the ensuing news conference the following week a local Cleveland TV reporter asked owner Jimmy Haslam if he could assure fans the Three Stooges weren't running the team.
2014: 30-27, Mike Pettine and Brian Hoyer
The Browns made a furious comeback after being down 27-3 at halftime, but couldn't finish the deal.
2015: 28-12, Pettine and Johnny Manziel
Somehow, the Browns and former coordinator John DeFilippo coaxed Manziel into a 372-yard passing game. In hindsight this borders on miraculous. The Browns lost because they knocked Jones out of the game and allowed Roethlisberger on the field. His rating in a game he was not supposed to play: 123.2. Pettine was fired at the end of this season, after a loss to the Steelers at home with third-stringer Austin Davis starting.
2016: 27-24 (overtime), Hue Jackson and Robert Griffin III
The Browns took the lead in overtime with a field goal, but they did not get a touchdown after driving to the 2. That allowed Jones to win the game with a touchdown pass on Pittsburgh's next possession.
2017: 28-24, Jackson and DeShone Kizer
This loss ended with Corey Coleman dropping a fourth-down pass right in his hands, and the Browns finished 2017 without a win.
The aggregate is no prettier than the individual. The Steelers have scored at least 24 points in 12 of 14 games, and 28 or more in eight. The Browns have scored seven or fewer four times, and 14 or fewer eight times. The Steelers have never scored fewer than 14.
The average final score: 27-15.
The games before 2003 weren't a lot prettier. In 2002, the Browns blew a 33-21 fourth-quarter lead and lost their only playoff appearance since 1999. Earlier that season, a 45-yard, game-winning, overtime field goal try by Phil Dawson went awry because it hit the head of defensive lineman Kimo Von Oelhoffen.
The Steelers have used their heads in every way possible to dominate the Browns in Pittsburgh.