The Cleveland Browns stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon from Huntington Bank Field, 13-6.
Cleveland’s upset win prevented the Steelers from capturing the AFC North title, setting up a Week 18 showdown from Acrisure Stadium between Pittsburgh (9-7) and the Baltimore Ravens (8-8) with the AFC North division championship up for grabs.
The Browns‘ stunner over the Steelers is good news for the Detroit Lions (8-8). After the Lions were eliminated from playoff contention with their Christmas Day loss at Minnesota (8-8), attention has turned to Detroit’s position on 2026 NFL draft boards.
Thanks to the Ravens‘ Saturday night win over the Packers, Detroit moved ahead of Baltimore on 2026 NFL draft boards. That’s because Detroit and Baltimore now have identical 8-8 records, but the Ravens’ strength of schedule has been more difficult than the Lions’.
Per Tankathon, Baltimore’s strength of schedule is .507 as compared to Detroit’s .493. Strength of schedule is measured as the aggregate winning percentage of a team’s opponents, and per NFL draft rules, the team that played the schedule with the lowest winning percentage is awarded the higher pick.
Thanks to Cleveland’s win over Pittsburgh, Baltimore still has everything left to play for in Week 18 at the Steelers. Logically, this gives the Ravens a better chance of beating the Steelers to capture the AFC North. Under that scenario, the Lions would draft before both Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the 2026 NFL draft.
Pittsburgh’s strength of schedule is considerably stronger than Detroit’s at .515, meaning, even if the Lions win at the Bears in Week 18, they would select in front of both Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
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