Bill Cowher is giving up sleep this week, but he is not conceding the AFC North Division title.

"The bottom line is that we are sitting here two games out of first place and six AFC games left to be played. We have left ourselves no margin for error," Cowher said yesterday during his weekly news conference, three time zones and barely 12 hours removed from the Steelers' 30-14 loss Monday night at San Francisco.

Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Thines Ward is met head on by San Francisco?s John Keith Monday night at Candlestick Park. Click photo for larger image.

Actually, in the AFC North, there is some margin for error.

Even at 3-7 with six losses in their past seven games, the Steelers could conceivably lose Sunday at Cleveland (4-6) and still have a shot at winning the division because co-leaders Baltimore and Cincinnati are 5-5. The Steelers play each of their three division rivals once over the final six-game stretch.

Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, but Cowher didn't want to grasp the math that would allow his team the leeway of losing to the Browns and still be chasing a division title and playoff spot.

"Whatever you say," he said.

He seemed to prefer the concept of rallying his team in the face of impending doom.

"Like I said, the opportunity is real in regards to where we are in this division," Cowher said. "Certainly, it is an uphill struggle, no doubt about it, but it's there. We have to seize that moment to get it done."

A victory against the 49ers would have eased things, but San Francisco scored 14 points in 14 seconds late in the third quarter to turn a 10-7 game into a rout.

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Former Pitt and Peabody High School running back Kevan Barlow got loose for a 78-touchdown run to give the 49ers a 17-7 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Antwaan Randle El turned the ball over on a fumble, and San Francisco's first-down play turned into a 28-yard touchdown pass from Tim Rattay to Fred Beasley to make it 24-7.

"I don't think there was any sense even at halftime that we had lost any momentum," Cowher said.

But the 49ers' two quick touchdowns changed that.

The Steelers' first meeting with the Browns this season (Oct. 5) produced a 33-13 Cleveland win.

Jerome Bettis' 1-yard touchdown run brought the Steelers within 16-10 late in the second quarter, but Cleveland made it 23-10 on Tim Couch's 9-yard touchdown run with just 6 seconds left in the half, and the Browns broke it open on Daylon McCutcheon's interception and 75-yard return for a third-quarter touchdown.

The Browns have made some changes since then, including a switch to Kelly Holcomb at quarterback and cutting receiver Kevin Johnson.

Cowher wasn't prepared to talk about the Browns.

"I haven't had a whole lot of a chance to look at them, to be honest," he said. "They played well this past week [a 44-6 win Sunday against Arizona]. I haven't had a chance to look at that game. Having not seen them, it's hard to comment on them, but certainly the score would indicate a very, very strong performance."

The win against the Cardinals broke Cleveland's three-game losing streak. The Browns are 3-2 since beating the Steelers.

A crash course on the Browns is on Cowher's agenda in what he knew would be a difficult few days.

Last week, Cowher expressed displeasure over his team's schedule, having to play a West Coast game Monday night, then a division game on the road the following Sunday. Now he's plodding through the consequences of that scheduling.

The team's plane from San Francisco landed around 6:45 a.m. yesterday, and Cowher was among those who didn't get a chance to go home.

"There's no normality to this week," he said. "All the coaches came [to the team's South Side complex] right from the airport, and we've been here since we landed.

"The players will come in tomorrow around noon. We're trying to give them some extra time off. We'll work the rest of the week and travel Saturday and get back on a normal schedule this coming Monday."

Although it's primarily the coaching staff that is go without much sleep, Cowher said the cramped schedule is having a toll on the players, too.

"The players are tired. They're sore," he said. "They'll be in here [today] having to gear back up and go on another away trip. This will be a big game in a tough atmosphere. There's a lot of sacrifice everybody has to make."