A house of horrors. That’s what the Cleveland Browns’ home stadium — regardless of the name — is becoming at this point for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In Week 17 action at Huntington Bank Field against the Browns, the Steelers put up a dud, struggling on offense in a 13-6 loss to set up a winner-take-all Week 18 matchup at Acrisure Stadium against the Baltimore Ravens.

Without suspended WR DK Metcalf, the Steelers couldn’t do much of anything offensively against the NFL’s No. 1 pass defense. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers struggled to do much of anything in the passing game, and while the run game had some success, the Steelers got away from it too much.

Defensively, Pittsburgh shook off a slow start and took advantage of some mistakes by Cleveland rookie QB Shedeur Sanders to turn the ball over. But it was too little, too late.

Make it four straight losses in Cleveland now, all in rather ugly, frustrating fashion.

Let’s get to some grades.

QB — D+

After three straight strong performances in which he was largely locked in and dealing, Aaron Rodgers came crashing back to earth on Sunday against the top-flight Browns defense.

Rodgers just didn’t look comfortable all game, threw a lot of quick passes to the perimeter, and just wasn’t on the same page with his receivers, particularly Marquez Valdes-Scantling, which is pretty puzzling considering the history between the two.

When Rodgers was at his best on Sunday, it was in the hurry-up offense, both late in the first half and at the end of the game. He made a pair of terrific throws to Pat Freiermuth in both situations and appeared in control. But the end-of-game sequence targeting MVS three straight times was so unlike Rodgers. Same with the failed 4th-and-1 deep shot to Scotty Miller with the Steelers in field goal position.

He just looked annoyed throughout the game, and wasn’t in a rhythm. He completed just 21-of-39 passes for 168 yards and was sacked twice. Not great on a day the Steelers needed him to deal. Hopefully he can bounce back next week.

RB — C+

I sure would have liked the Steelers to run the football a bit more, especially in a close game. Jaylen Warren fumbled on his first carry of the game and fortunately the Steelers were able to recover it. But after that, he had some success on the ground. Warren rushed for 64 yards on 12 carries, consistently churning out yards. He seemed to pick up chunks of yards time and time again. And then the Steelers went away from him.

Kenneth Gainwell rushed for just 26 yards on seven carries, though he did have a nice 15-yard run. He didn’t do much as a receiver, either, hauling in just three passes for 12 yards. Time and time again he chipped Myles Garrett and didn’t have much time to get into his pass route to be an option for Rodgers.

Still, it would have been nice for the Steelers to utilize the two best weapons more in a close game. Maybe it could have been the difference.

WR — D

No DK Metcalf, a major problem for the Steelers.

Pittsburgh’s passing game was largely non-existent in the loss to the Browns. Granted, Cleveland’s pass defense is No. 1 in the NFL, but the Steelers couldn’t do much of anything. Marquez Valdes-Scantling led the Steelers with nine targets but hauled in just three passes for 21 yards.

The final throw of the game should have been defensive pass interference, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that every time the Steelers targeted MVS on Sunday, it was a significant challenge.

Adam Thielen didn’t do much of anything in the passing game, either, hauling in just two passes for 14 yards on five targets. He failed to come down with a back-shoulder throw along the sideline in the first half for what could have been a big play.

Scotty Miller was the Steelers’ most dependable receiver, finishing with three receptions for 25 yards. He had a huge 24-yard gain wiped out early in the game on a bogus offensive pass interference penalty on Valdes-Scantling, but he did make some big catches late on possession downs that gave the Steelers some life.

This was supposed to be the opportunity for Roman Wilson to get back involved offensively. But he played just nine snaps. So much for that hype speech about Wilson earlier last week from head coach Mike Tomlin.

TE — C+

This team really needs to find a way to use Pat Freiermuth more, especially next week. Freiermuth hauled in three passes for 63 yards, making a pair of critical catches late in the game to get the Steelers inside the Cleveland 7-yard line. The fact that they never went back to him after that was infuriating. He had a long of 29 yards on the day and continued showing he can make plays when given the opportunity.

The Steelers utilized Jonnu Smith heavily after Darnell Washington went out with a broken arm. Smith hauled in five passes for 18 yards. He didn’t do much as a receiver, but he did have a nice 7-yard run to open the second half. Washington had two receptions for 15 yards before exiting with the injury.

Connor Heyward did some good work as a lead blocker and also ripped off a 29-yard run on a tush push variation, creating splash for the Steelers.

OL — C

Yes, the Steelers didn’t allow Myles Garrett to break the NFL single-season sack record. That’s a positive. But their offensive line couldn’t do much consistently elsewhere in the game. The group gave up two sacks of Aaron Rodgers, had a pair of false-start penalties that turned third-and-short situations into third and longs that they couldn’t convert.

There were some inconsistencies in running the football, too, which kept the Steelers from really leaning heavily into the ground game and pounding the rock. It was just an up-and-down showing from a group that has played some good football as of late.

DL — B

Outside of a few early successful Browns runs, Pittsburgh’s run defense was pretty stout. The Steelers limited the Browns to just 78 yards on 25 carries. Just one run went over 10 yards, which was pretty encouraging on a day in which conditions were pretty poor.

Cameron Heyward played some great football once again, dominating as a run defender in a matchup he typically has success. But what people will only remember is the bogus roughing-the-passer penalty on him that extended a Cleveland drive from deep in its own end.

Heyward finished with five tackles and one tackle for loss. Rookie Derrick Harmon had two tackles and settled in nicely as a run defender after a tough start. Keeanu Benton had three tackles, too, and controlled the point of attack consistently. I liked some of the rotational reps from rookie Yahya Black, who showed off his size and strength against the run.

Logan Lee had a huge tipped pass that set up Jack Sawyer’s interception, making a play in limited action.

LB — B

Alex Highsmith remains a very good, borderline great, pass rusher when he’s healthy and on the field. The Steelers needed him to be on Sunday and he was a force. Highsmith recorded two sacks, had a key pressure on one of Shedeur Sanders’ interceptions, and played the run very well, drawing a holding penalty.

Opposite him, Nick Herbig and Jack Sawyer made some big plays. But it’s the play that Herbig didn’t make on a very likely pick-six of Sanders that came back to haunt the Steelers. Herbig jumped an out route to a tight end and should have caught it and walked in for a score. But he dropped it. Sawyer had a nice interception off a tipped pass but did not create any true splash as a pass rusher.

Inside, I really like what I saw from Patrick Queen. He played with energy and physicality, and after a slow start helped drag the Steelers’ defense back into the fight. Queen finished with five tackles and a tackle for loss and was all over the place. He also drew a key holding call that wiped out a big run by the Browns in the fourth quarter.

Payton Wilson had some good moments on the afternoon, as did Malik Harrison, but Harrison wasn’t able to finish a sack early in the game and Wilson allowed a key third-down conversion in coverage, getting lost against a little-used tight end.

DB — C+

The Steelers did well to clean things up in the second half against the Browns, particularly in the passing game. Kyle Dugger came down with an interception, Joey Porter Jr. made plays in coverage and as a blitzer, and Asante Samuel Jr. settled in.

But the start was very concerning as the pass defense was slow out of the gate, allowed too many early chunk plays and giving up a touchdown.

Dugger did have an interception and played the run well, but getting lost on the Harold Fannin Jr. 28-yard touchdown on the Browns’ second drive of the game was rather ugly and unacceptable on a duck thrown by Sanders. Chuck Clark was also really rough in coverage, giving up a 42-yard gain to Cedric Tillman.

Jalen Ramsey was good once again moving all around, and he had a huge stop on Sanders late in the game on a third-down scramble, forcing a punt.

This team really needs Brandin Echols and James Pierre back in a big way, though.

Special Teams — C+

Conditions were poor, and it led to a rather harrowing day on special teams for the Steelers, particularly in the kicking game. Chris Boswell missed a 54-yard field goal wide right. The other two field goals he made were a bit nerve-racking, too, as Boswell had to bend them in.

Corliss Waitman had an up-and-down day punting the football. He averaged just 40.7 yards, but all five of his punts were downed inside the Browns’ 20-yard line.

Kick return was a mess as Jaylen Warren fell down in space on the opening kickoff of the second half, which was a microcosm of the game. Scotty Miller did a nice job on punt return, ripping off a 25-yarder in the second half to give the Steelers good field position.