Steelers hold off Broncos, snap three-game losing streak

After playing from behind for much of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers got to see what it was like to work with a lead Sunday afternoon against the Denver Broncos.

The unfamiliarity was almost too much for them to handle.

The Steelers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 27-19 victory at Heinz Field, but not before nearly frittering away an 18-point advantage in the fourth quarter.

The Broncos scored two touchdowns in the final 10 minutes, 15 seconds and, needing another score and two-point conversion to force overtime, had the ball at the Steelers’ 3 with 17 seconds left.

Only when second-year cornerback James Pierre, pressed into starting because of an injury to Cam Sutton, intercepted Teddy Bridgewater in the end zone on fourth down could the Steelers finally celebrate.

With the win, the Steelers avoided their first 0-3 home start since 1986 and improved to 2-3 on the season.

“That’s all that matters, winning the football game,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “We didn’t care if it was pretty, ugly – we just wanted to win the game, and we did that. It took all of us, and it took the whole game.”

Roethlisberger threw touchdown passes to Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool, and he directed a field-goal drive in the fourth quarter after the Broncos (3-2) had pulled within 24-19 with 5:46 remaining. It came with Najee Harris, who rushed for a career-high 122 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, sitting out the drive because of cramps.

Roethlisberger and Harris, though, each were helpless while Bridgewater led the Broncos, with no timeouts remaining, 72 yards in the final 2:29. The Broncos had a first-and-goal from the 9 with 56 seconds left and had two cracks from the 3.

“(Crap),” Harris said of his thoughts as the drive unfolded. “Man, I didn’t even want to look. Are we going to OT? My calf is cramping up, my ankle hurt. Damn. That’s why it’s the ultimate team sport. You rely on the defense, and they came in and made a play just like they relied on us to make plays.”

In a departure from form over the opening four weeks, the Steelers offense made enough plays to take a 17-6 halftime lead, which they increased to 24-6 on Roethlisberger’s 18-yard touchdown toss to Claypool with 2:41 left in the third.

It was the first time the Steelers led at halftime this season and the first time they led at any point in the second half since the fourth quarter in Buffalo.

“It’s always nice when we are clicking on two or even all three phases of the game,” outside linebacker T.J. Watt said. “Today, I felt like we were doing that.”

The tone was set by the offense in general and Harris in particular. He had 89 yards rushing in the first half and scored on a 1-yard run as the Steelers possessed the ball for 19:43. Roethlisberger got the offense rolling with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Johnson, marking the second week in a row the Steelers scored on the opening possession. The last time that happened was in 2017.

Roethlisberger and Harris were all too happy to give credit to the much-maligned offensive line that shared responsibility in the Steelers having the NFL’s worst rushing unit entering the game. The Steelers rebounded to gain 147 yards against Denver after accumulating 146 combined during the three-game skid.

Roethlisberger, meantime, completed 15 of 25 passes for 253 yards without an interception although he lost a fumble on a strip sack in the first quarter that led to a field goal. It was the only time Roethlisberger was sacked in the game.

“The line was challenged this week to be better in the run game, better in the pass game,” Roethlisberger said. “I thought they answered the challenge.”

So did Harris.

“I’m more excited about how the O-line did,” he said. “All the criticism they’ve been taking, they stuck through it. They never broke.”

The defense, though, nearly did in the fourth quarter after holding the Broncos to 135 yards on their first six possessions. The Broncos had 219 yards in the final quarter alone.

Bridgewater threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Hinton with 10:15 to play and a 39-yard scoring strike to Courtland Sutton with 5:46 left to make it 24-19.

Roethlisberger threw a slant to Johnson for 22 yards, and Claypool added 16 yards on a catch-and-run to help set up Chris Boswell’s 43-yard field goal with 2:29 to go.

“I told the guys before the drive that we either end the game on the field or score points,” Roethlisberger said. “Next time, I’ll try to be more specific about how many points.”

Bridgewater almost directed another 70-plus yard touchdown drive before Pierre came up with a turnover, another missing piece to the Steelers’ puzzle during their losing streak.

“You always want to be the last ones on the field as a defense and be able to end it the way that we did,” Watt said. “We are very happy with it.”