CLEVELAND, Ohio -- At the conclusion of probably his last post-game press conference as Browns coach, Eric Mangini said to the assembled media, "Thanks for being patient with me. I tried to be better this year."

You wonder if he'll use the same line in his scheduled meeting Monday morning with President Mike Holmgren. They will meet as players clean out their lockers for the last time.

All indications are that Holmgren made up his mind on making a change before the Browns suffered their worst defeat of the season, 41-9, to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. The big win for the Steelers (12-4) locked up the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs, giving them a first-round playoff bye and a home game in the second round.

The big loss for the Browns gave them a second 5-11 season in a row under Mangini. This one left a bad taste because they lost their last four games as opposed to winning their last four.

"Five wins is five wins," said linebacker David Bowens, declining to rate Mangini's two years as coach.

Mangini struck a much more somber tone after this season finale than a year ago, of course, when his players celebrated the four-game winning streak by dumping Gatorade over him.

"We'll get together [Monday] and see where it goes," he said of the meeting with Holmgren. "I think the team has done a lot of good things this season. It's difficult to feel any of those positives right now in wake of what just happened."

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Needing the win to preserve their third AFC North title in four years, the Steelers brought their A game and humiliated the Browns, who prided themselves all year on being competitive and never giving up.

The Steelers forced three Colt McCoy interceptions and sacked him four times. The game was decided on the first McCoy interception, on his second pass. It glanced off the left hand of tight end Benjamin Watson and was grabbed by safety Troy Polamalu. Ben Roethlisberger pounced on the miscue with a 56-yard TD pass to Mike Wallace on the very next play.

Ballgame.

"I'm not surprised," crowed Steelers linebacker Larry Foote. "We had more to play for. They talk about going out with a good game, but the truth is their cars are packed up. They're on the last month of their lease. We had more at stake."

After the Steelers went ahead, 14-0, the Browns moved 80 yards to the Steelers' 2. On fourth down, Mangini chose to kick a 19-yard field goal rather than go for the touchdown -- a common theme for him. The shivering crowd booed in disgust.

"I didn't really anticipate us not being able to slow them down defensively," Mangini explained. "I didn't want to come away from that drive with no points."

After the game, Mangini thanked his players for their effort all year and said he hoped to see them next year. But there was definitely a scent of change in the air as players fielded repeated questions about Mangini's future.

Browns lose to Steelers 41-9 16 Gallery: Browns lose to Steelers 41-9

"I'm sure everybody thinks there is a possibility [of a coaching change]," said left tackle Joe Thomas. "We knew that was the way it was going to be coming into the season, so I don't think anything was different."

A league source said the acknowledged philosophical differences between Holmgren and Mangini -- mostly on the offensive side -- were never reconciled in their one season together. In his only public comments during the season in early November, Holmgren was critical of the offense and the passing game, in particular.

"I know the fans want change, people want change, but change isn't always good," said returner and receiver Josh Cribbs. "I just don't want to rebuild again. I want to win now. I believe in what Mangini stands for. But it's not in my hands."

Rebuilding totally might not be what Holmgren has in mind. At least one league source with knowledge of the situation believes the odds are strong that Holmgren will take over the coaching duties himself and install the West Coast offense that he learned under Bill Walsh and used to take Green Bay and Seattle to the Super Bowl.

The source also believes that Holmgren might ask Mangini coordinators Rob Ryan (defense) and Brad Seely (special teams) to stay.

It's possible that Holmgren will delay an announcement on Mangini's successor because he may have to conduct an interview first with a minority candidate to satisfy the NFL's Rooney Rule.

Greg Aiello, NFL spokesman, declined to say whether the rule might be averted in this unique circumstance. After all, the rule would put Holmgren in the position of interviewing a candidate for a job he intends to fill himself.

"Let's wait and see what happens. We don't want to get into that type of discussion today," Aiello wrote in an email reply.

If Holmgren still views McCoy as the team's quarterback of the future, it stands to reason that his development will be a major factor in choosing the team's next coach.

McCoy concluded what started as a very promising rookie season with losses of 20-10 to Baltimore and 41-9 to Pittsburgh in cold weather in Cleveland Browns Stadium. In those two games, he completed 35 of 70 passes for 358 yards for one touchdown and had six interceptions. His passer rating was 34.1 against the two playoff rivals.

McCoy admitted in response to a question that the West Coast style of offense is what he was used to running at University of Texas.

"I've said before and I'll say it today -- Coach Mangini and his staff, for me personally, have done a great job," McCoy said. "I do not know what the future holds, but I know Coach Holmgren is our president, and I know he's going to make the right decisions to figure out how this organization can be a winner."