Steelers football blog

Steelers fall short vs Jets 22-17

The Steelers did not cede control of the AFC North to their most bitter rivals following a gut-wrenching 22-17 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday.

But they certainly reduced their margin for error.

The Steelers (10-4) clinched a playoff berth despite the loss. Whether they win their third division title under coach Mike Tomlin and secure a first-round playoff bye will be determined the next two weeks.

The manner in which they clinched their place in the postseason -- failing to make timely stops on defense and coming up on offense on what would have been the most improbable touchdown drive of the season -- had Steelers chairman emeritus Dan Rooney shaking his head as he made his way around a quiet locker room last night.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has built a career on engineering fourth-quarter comebacks, but he misfired on two throws from the Jets' 10-yard line at the end of the game. (Tribune)

 

Steelers get it done, beat Ravens 13-10

Big games call for big plays from big players, and none came bigger for the Steelers Sunday night than the one delivered by Troy Polamalu.

With their chances of victory and a division title slipping through the Steelers' hands, Polamalu blitzed and sacked Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco and forced a fumble that led to the winning touchdown.

The offense made it count when Ben Roethlisberger completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Redman with 2:59 that delivered a 13-10 victory.

"They're over there sick right now," wide receiver Hines Ward said of the Ravens, who would have been in the driver's seat had they won.

The victory lifted the Steelers to 9-3 and a one-game lead over the Ravens in the AFC North Division. The Steelers also cling to a tiebreaker with the best record within the division.

"Does it surprise you?" Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel said of Polamalu's

game-turner. "It doesn't surprise us, either. We see that all the time."

With the Ravens holding a 4-point lead and the ball at their 43 with less than four minutes to go, Polamalu blitzed off his right side and hit Flacco, slashing his right arm and causing a fumble.

Linebacker LaMarr Woodley returned the fumble 19 yards to the 9. (PPG)

Steelers scrape by Bills in OT, 19-16

The Steelers looked like they were going to blow out one of the worst teams in the NFL.

Instead they had to escape Buffalo with a 19-16 overtime victory after squandering a 13-point halftime lead.

Shaun Suisham kicked four field goals, including a 41-yard game-winner with 2 minutes, 14 seconds left in the extra period as the Steelers improved to 8-3.

The Steelers made several stands in overtime before putting together a 13-play, 58-yard drive that resulted in their most tense victory of the season.

The Steelers dominated the first half but were outplayed in the final two quarter by the Bills, who took advantage of a error-plagued offense, to tie the score at the end of regulation on Rian Lindell’s 49-yard field goal.

Buffalo (2-9) should have won the game in overtime as Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw what looked like a sure touchdown pass to Steve Johnson in overtime. Johnson, who had beaten Ike Taylor and Ryan Clark to the left corner of the end zone dropped the pass.

The Steelers eventually made him pay for it. (Tribune)

 

Steelers thump Raiders 35-3

The Steelers crushed the Oakland Raiders today in a rough-and-tumble throwback game that looked more like their heated rivalry from the 1970s.

The Steelers rang up a 35-3 victory that was not as close as the score indicated, and they set a new team record with 163 yards in penalties in a game marked by a handful of fights and one player ejected.

The Raiders' defensive tackle Richard Seymour was tossed from the game for shoving Ben Roethlisberger to the ground long after the play was over, a touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders late in the half.

Roethlisberger threw three touchdown passes and ran for one to lead the Steelers to a 7-3 record.

After Oakland took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, the Steelers responded with three touchdowns in the first half and two more in the fourth quarter. (PPG)

Steelers brutal in loss vs Pats

The Patriots seemingly turned back the clock Sunday night and in more ways than one.

Tom Brady threw for 350 yards and accounted for four touchdowns and a defense that had been embarrassed a week earlier made the Steelers look bad in a 39-26 win at Heinz Field.

The Patriots, coming off a 34-14 loss to the Browns, put together the kind of complete performance that called to mind the teams that dominated the first half of the 2000s and beat the Steelers in two AFC titles games here.

The Steelers, by contrast, appeared to be flat, particularly on defense.

They never led in the nationally televised contest and suffered their worst home loss under coach Mike Tomlin.

“We all lost,” Tomlin said, “including me.”

Outdueled by Brady, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 387 yards and three touchdowns but did most of his damage after the Patriots had built a big lead. (Tribune)

Steelers put fork in Cincy

The Steelers ran out to a comfortable lead against the Cincinnati Bengals Monday night and this time they held onto it. Barely.

The Steelers lost several players with injuries but beat the Bengals, 27-21, avoiding a repeat of their game last season at Paul Brown Stadium when they lost an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter and the game.

The lead was bigger this time, 27-7 in the fourth quarter before the Bengals scored two touchdowns and then had the ball perched on the Steelers' 12 with 40 seconds left. It was fourth down. Carson Palmer whipped a pass over the middle to rookie wide receiver Jordan Shipley at the 2, but James Harrison and Ike Taylor broke it up and the Steelers staved off what would have been an epic collapse.

"Shipley went in motion, I locked in, Carson looked in and I saw James coming to help," Taylor said. "We got there right at the same time."

The victory lifted the Steelers' record to 6-2 and back into a first-place tie in the AFC. (PPG)

Steelers can't put away Saints

The Big Easy turned out to be anything but that for the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger in particular.

Roethlisberger struggled to get in sync with his receivers for much of Sunday night, and the Steelers were not able to overcome that and a leaky pass defense despite some late heroics by their franchise quarterback.

Roethlisberger threw for 195 yards at the Louisiana Superdome but couldn't bring the Steelers all the way back after he led a four-play, 68-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. As a result, the Steelers lost to the Saints, 20-10, in a raucous stadium where the noise level unofficially qualified as ear splitting.

"Probably the loudest place I've played in," Roethlisberger said after the Steelers fell to 5-2.

The Steelers committed two turnovers, including as costly a one as they have had all season.

It came with just over six minutes left in the game after the Steelers had recovered a fumble and had seized momentum in a wild fourth quarter.

The Steelers appeared to be in range for at least a game-tying field goal after tight end Heath Miller caught a Roethlisberger pass and rumbled into Saints territory.

But the ball popped out of Miller's arms at the end of a 25-yard reception, and Saints free safety Darren Sharper recovered the fumble. (Trib)

Big Ben gets a break, Steelers win 23-22

Ben Roethlisberger threw for 302 yards and a pair of scores and Jeff Reed kicked three field goals, including an 18-yarder late in the fourth quarter, as the Steelers held off the Dolphins, 23-22, today at Sun Life Stadium.

The back-and-forth game produced a controversial ending.

Roethlisberger lost control of the ball while diving into the end zone with less than three minutes to play. While called a touchdown on the field, the ruling was reversed after an official review.

Since it could not be determined who had recovered the fumble, the Steelers were given the ball at the Dolphins' 1-yard line, and they settled a field goal.

The defense made it stand up as the Steelers improved to 5-1 in front of an announced crowd of 69,867.

After Dan Carpenter's fourth field goal of the game gave the Dolphins (3-2) a 22-20 lead, Emmanuel Sanders returned the ensuing kickoff 48 yards, and the Steelers took advantage of the short field

The Steelers visit the reigning Super Bowl champion Saints next Sunday. (Trib)

Ben throws 3 TDs in debut win over Browns

Ben Roethlisberger tossed three touchdown passes in his season debut and the Steelers beat the pesky Browns, 28-10, to extend their Heinz Field winning streak over their archrivals to seven games.

Roethlisberger, who missed the first four games while serving an NFL suspension, completed 16 of 27 passes for 257 yards in front of fans who largely cheered him from the time he first took the field on the crisp autumn day.

Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace caught three passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. Rashard Mendenhall rushed for a game-high 84 yards on 27 carries and a score.

The Steelers, who improved to 4-1, play three consecutive games away from Heinz Field starting next Sunday in Miami.

They were trailing the Browns (1-4) early in the second quarter before Roethlisberger threw a 29-yard scoring strike to Wallace.

The Steelers increased their 7-3 halftime lead to 11 points in the third quarter when a 50-yard reception by Wallace set up an 8-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Hines Ward.

The Steelers recovered a fumbled punt deep in Cleveland territory in the fourth quarter, setting up a short Mendenhall touchdown run that made the score 21-3 and finished the Browns

Rookie Colt McCoy completed 23 of 33 passes for 281 yards and a touchdown and two interceptions in his first NFL start. (Trib)

Magic ride over for now, Steelers lose 17-14

Joe Flacco threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh with 32 seconds left to give Baltimore a 17-14 victory over the Steelers at Heinz Field today.

Baltimore got the ball on the Steelers 40 following a punt and a holding penalty with 1:28 left and no time outs. It took them only four pass plays to score the game-winner.

The outcome left both teams with 3-1 records and tied atop the AFC North Division.

Jeff Reed missed his two field goal tries for the Steelers, one of 49 yards and one of 45.

Rashard Mendenhall scored both of the Steelers' touchdowns on runs of 1 and 7 yards. (PPG)