While Steelers are idling, Browns throw it into reverse

As two NFL teams from the state of Ohio proved again on Sunday, Ohio State is not the only football team this month to prosper by not playing.

When the Cleveland Browns scored only two touchdowns in a 19-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals -- that would be 37 fewer points than Cleveland scored in Week 2 against Cincinnati -- the Browns did for the Pittsburgh Steelers what Missouri and West Virginia did for Ohio State three weeks earlier.

Backing in, discouraged at many parking structures at airports and shopping malls, has become a great way to reach the BCS title game or clinch the AFC North championship.

Or wrap up the NFC’s No. 1 seeding. When Green Bay lost, 35-7, at Chicago, the Dallas Cowboys were gifted home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The 10-5 Steelers, who beat St. Louis, 41-24, on Thursday, wrapped up the AFC North title Sunday when Cleveland quarterback Derek Anderson locked up against the 6-9 Bengals. On Sept. 16, Anderson threw for a career-high five touchdowns in a 51-45 Browns victory. In the rematch, Anderson had four passes intercepted, another career high.

The 13-2 Cowboys, also kicking back after Saturday’s 20-13 victory at Carolina, spent the afternoon grabbing a few cold ones and the NFC’s top seeding while the Packers experienced a new kind of cold.

How cold was it Sunday in Chicago?

It was so cold that the team that plays its home games in Green Bay walked away from Soldier Field complaining about the weather.

It was so cold, Packers quarterback Brett Favre, grizzled survivor of 16 winters in the Wisconsin hinterland, called the wind- and snow-swept conditions the worst he had experienced as an NFL player.

It was so cold, the Bears (6-9) beat the Packers (12-3) by 28 points.

Favre will go into the Hall of Fame as the game’s all-time leader in passing yardage and touchdown passes, but the record book will forever show that on Dec. 23, 2007, Favre lost by four touchdowns to Kyle Orton.

Pittsburgh was the main beneficiary of Anderson’s frigid performance at Paul Brown Stadium, but the Steelers were not alone.

Secondary beneficiary: Tennessee, now in charge of its playoff fate despite a ragged performance against the New York Jets. The Titans won, 10-6, to move to 9-6, the same record owned by the Browns. Unlike the Browns, the Titans can now reach the postseason without outside help.

For Tennessee, the assignment next week is simple:

Win and you’re in.

Lose and see you next autumn.

That’s the high concept, anyway.

The smaller print is not so friendly for the Titans.

To qualify for the AFC’s sixth and final playoff berth, Tennessee will have to win at Indianapolis.

Cleveland? The Browns can still advance with a home victory over San Francisco and a Titans defeat.

Indianapolis, 13-2 after a 38-15 triumph over Houston, is locked into the AFC’s No. 2 seeding. So the Titans can always hope that Colts Coach Tony Dungy rests some starters -- calling Jim Sorgi! -- and Indianapolis takes it easy and maybe holds a team vote at halftime to play the third and fourth quarters with no defensive backs.

On the other hand, New England improved to 15-0 with a 28-7 victory over Miami, and Patriots Coach Bill Belichick never takes it easy. Dungy knows Belichick spends every waking hour sharpening edges, not losing them. To keep up, Dungy might need to use the Tennessee game as something more than a glorified walk-through.

In the NFC, the New York Giants did not quite back into the conference’s No. 5 seeding, but they got there in the appropriate spirit. Eli Manning was awful, completing only seven of 15 attempts for 111 yards with two interceptions, but not as awful as Buffalo counterpart Trent Edwards, who completed nine of 26 passes for 161 yards with three interceptions.

Consequently, the Giants outscored the Bills, 38-21. The Giants are 10-5, which is two games better than any other NFC wild-card hopeful with one game remaining on the regular-season schedule.

That is good news for the Giants, who close the regular season with a home game against the Patriots and a hellbent-for-16-and-0 Belichick.

Bad news for the Giants: They are 3-4 this season at home and winless against opponents with winning records.

The last NFC wild card is still a loose-ball scramble among three teams. Washington defeated Minnesota, 32-21, which left the Redskins and the Vikings at 8-7. New Orleans could have joined them, but the Saints lost at home to Philadelphia, 38-23.

Washington can clinch the wild card with a home victory over Dallas.

Minnesota can clinch the wild card with a road victory over Denver and a Washington defeat.

New Orleans (7-8) can clinch the wild card with a road victory over Chicago -- marquee reads: Rematch of the Last NFC Title Game! -- and defeats by Minnesota and Washington.

That should add a bit of the old adrenaline to the Washington-Dallas rivalry. Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens has a high ankle sprain and could certainly use the day to rest. On the other hand, the Cowboys are playing the Redskins.

What will Dallas Coach Wade Phillips do?

What would Bill Belichick do?

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christine.daniels@latimes.com