Defense, ground game help Steelers fend off Packers, improve to 6-3

Mike Tomlin didn’t audibly exhale when he sat down for his postgame news conference Sunday afternoon.

Nobody would have blamed him if he had.

“All right,” Tomlin said, easing into his seat, “that was easy.”

Tomlin flashed a knowing smile, realizing nothing has been that way for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. And it wasn’t the case against the Green Bay Packers when the Steelers needed an interception in front of the end zone on the final play to seal a 23-19 victory at Acrisure Stadium.

Safety Damontae Kazee’s pick at the 2-yard-line followed one by Keanu Neal in the end zone with 3 minutes, 20 seconds left and allowed the Steelers to escape with a victory that gave them a 6-3 record heading into their AFC North showdown next Sunday at Cleveland.

It was the second week in a row the Steelers needed a last-second interception in the red zone to seal a victory, and four of their wins this season have transpired because of either a fourth-quarter defensive touchdown or an interception that thwarted a late comeback.

“A lot of people tell me that’s Steeler football,” said Neal, a first-year Steeler who missed the final series because of a rib injury suffered on his interception return. “That’s how it is here: tight games, fighting until the last whistle.”

It wasn’t the only game in the AFC North that ended on a close call. The Browns rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the Baltimore Ravens, 33-31, on a last-second field goal. And the Cincinnati Bengals came back from 10 points down against Houston before losing 30-27 on a field goal at the buzzer.

The Steelers’ win moved them within a half game of 7-3 Baltimore. Cleveland also is 6-3, and Cincinnati is 5-4.

“We feel like we’re in a good spot,” outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said, “but there are a lot of areas where we can improve.”

The Steelers started strong for the second week in a row, getting touchdowns on their opening two possessions, and they held a 17-7 lead in the first half. But they failed to convert a third down on eight consecutive tries, which allowed the Packers to claw back and briefly take a 19-17 lead late in the third quarter.

The kicking game played a role in the outcome. Chris Boswell booted his second and third field goals of the game to establish the final score, but it cannot be understated that the Packers trailed by four points instead of three thanks to Patrick Peterson blocking an extra-point attempt in the first half.

“This is not a new skill that he has,” Tomlin said of the 33-year-old cornerback. “He’s been a dynamic player in that area.”

With offensive coordinator Matt Canada calling plays from the sideline for the second game in a row and rookie first-rounder Broderick Jones making his second start at right tackle, the Steelers rushed for a season-high 205 yards, surpassing the 166 they amassed the previous game.

Jaylen Warren led the Steelers with a career-high 101 yards on 15 carries that included a 16-yard touchdown run. Najee Harris added 82 yards rushing on 16 attempts and scored on a 4-yard run.

“It was kind of a 1-2 punch that you didn’t want to take it out of their hands too much with how successful they were,” said quarterback Kenny Pickett, who had 126 yards passing with no touchdowns or interceptions. “Even getting the ball in the flat or in the screen game and getting them in space, I thought those two guys were playing unreal today.”

Packers quarterback Jordan Love threw two touchdown passes in the first half and finished with 289 yards. The Packers totaled 399 yards overall, becoming the ninth consecutive opponent to outgain the Steelers this season.

Love converted a fourth-and-6 pass on a field-goal drive that pulled the Packers within 17-16 to open the second half. On the drive that gave the Packers their only lead, he had completions covering 20 and 36 yards.

Playing without two defensive starters, the Steelers lost inside linebacker Kwon Alexander to a leg injury in the first quarter. When Neal exited after his later interception, the Steelers finished the game with practice squad call-up Trenton Thompson playing safety.

“We don’t have time to sit around and sulk while we have a football game going on,” outside linebacker T.J. Watt said. “We just need to take it in stride, and I feel like we did a good job of that today.”

On Green Bay’s penultimate possession, Love moved the Packers to the Steelers 14 when his pass intended for Christian Watson in the end zone was tipped by Peterson. Neal plucked the ball out of the air and returned it to the 24 before hobbling off.

The Steelers got one first down — ending that 0-for-8 streak — but an offensive pass-interference penalty wiped out a second, and they punted the ball back to Green Bay with 59 seconds left. Love hooked up with Jayden Reed on a 46-yard completion to heighten the stress level for the Steelers defense.

“As a defense, we always want to be out there when the game is on the line,” Watt said. “Obviously, we don’t love close games, but if we have to, we want to be able to dictate what happens at the end of the game.”

The Packers converted a fourth-and-2 to the Steelers 16 before Love spiked the ball to stop the clock with 3 seconds remaining. Starting at free safety instead of an injured Minkah Fitzpatrick, Kazee stepped in front of Watson for the game-ending pick.

“We haven’t been clean through nine games,” Tomlin said. “We talk a lot about our warts, but turnover ratio has not been one of them. Generally, we do a good job of taking care of the ball, and generally, we do a good job of searching for it and getting after the ball. That’s probably the difference in these tight games.”