The 26-14 victory against the Cleveland Browns on Monday night not only kept the Pittsburgh Steelers alive for a playoff berth, it guaranteed coach Mike Tomlin another season without a losing record.

The Steelers have finished .500 or better in each of Tomlin’s 15 years. They take an 8-7-1 record into the season finale at Baltimore.

Tomlin had been tied with Marty Schottenheimer for most consecutive non-losing seasons to start an NFL coaching career. Schottenheimer achieved 14 in a row from 1984-97 with the Browns and Kansas City Chiefs.

Tomlin doesn’t take any satisfaction from reaching that milestone.

“Not as I sit here today,” he said Tuesday. “I say that humbly. Our agenda this year is to get into the single-elimination tournament and then pit our skills against others in that single-elimination tournament in an effort to win a world championship.

“That’s our mentality every year. With that mentality, there is certain hardware you expect to pick up along the way. If you don’t, you are going to be seriously disappointed. That’s just the expectation we have here in Pittsburgh.”

Schottenheimer had just one 8-8 season (another ended in an 8-7-1 finish) while compiling his 14-year streak. Tomlin has three 8-8 records on his resume, yet has won a Super Bowl unlike Schottenheimer, who had a 5-13 record in the postseason.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger never has experienced a losing season in 18 years with the Steelers. Neither has defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, who is in his 11th season.

“I’m very fortunate,” Heyward said. “I remember in college thinking I would relish an opportunity to play for coach Tomlin. Coming here, the Pittsburgh Steelers and coach Tomlin go hand in hand. I take a lot of pride in playing for that man.”

Room to run

Najee Harris set a career high with 188 yards rushing against the Browns. The performance coincided with Chris Morgan’s first game being in charge of the offensive line.

Morgan was elevated from assistant line coach when Adrian Klemm left to take a similar position at Oregon.

Harris had a season-long 30-yard run in the third quarter, and he surpassed it when he ran 37 yards for a touchdown with 51 seconds left.

“He got better as the game wore on,” Tomlin said. “The amount of yards he picked up after contact, the way he confronted would-be tacklers in an aggressive and competitive manner was helpful and inspiring for all of us.”

Tomlin didn’t discount Morgan’s role in preparing the offensive line that included J.C. Hassenauer making his first start of the season at center.

“I thought he had a tremendous impact,” Tomlin said. “I don’t want to overstate it. He ran the offensive line room and made critical decisions regarding the division of labor and formulation of the plan. He’ll do similar things this week. We had a great run day, but that’s just a day. I’m looking forward to watching his contributions and plan development this week and add to that body of work.”

Tomlin has said that Morgan, who previously was the Atlanta Falcons offensive line coach, will be considered for the job permanently after the season.

Injury update

Tomlin said he didn’t have a lot of “clarity” on injuries that several players suffered against the Browns. Left tackle Dan Moore Jr. (ankle), right guard Trai Turner (knee), strong safety Terrell Edmunds (groin) are dealing with injuries that could limit their practice participation.

Tomlin said center Kendrick Green (calf) will have a chance to practice early in the week after he did not play against Cleveland. Players who could return from the reserve/covid list include inside linebackers Devin Bush and Joe Schobert, defensive end Chris Wormley, right tackle Zach Banner and running back Anthony McFarland Jr.

Roster moves

In a flurry of transactions, wide receivers Anthony Miller, Steven Sims and Tyler Vaughns were restored to the practice squad. The Steelers then released kicker Sam Sloman and punter Cameron Nizialek from the practice squad. Linebacker Jacob Tuioti-Mariner terminated his contract from the practice squad so he could sign with the Carolina Panthers’ 53-man roster.

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