Steelers rally past Colts, clinch AFC North

With the Steelers careening to a fourth consecutive loss and all of the usual factors at play — dropped passes, short-yardage failures and little first-half offense — a Christmas miracle happened Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field.

Trailing by 17 points and looking as lifeless as a holiday tree without water, the Steelers used three Ben Roethlisberger touchdown passes over an 11-minute span in the second half to defeat the Indianapolis Colts, 28-24.

The win not only snapped a three-game losing streak, it clinched the AFC North title and at least the No. 3 seed in the conference for the Steelers heading into the season finale next weekend at Cleveland.

The Steelers overcame a 17-point deficit — tied for third largest in franchise history — for the third time in the past six seasons under coach Mike Tomlin. The Colts (10-5) lost for the first time in four games despite controlling play for the first 40 minutes.

“Just loved the fight of the group,” Tomlin said after the Steelers improved to 12-3. “It was very necessary. Victory is sweet. It’s been a month or so for us, so we’ve been through some adversity.”

To overcome the latest batch of hardship, the Steelers had to rally from a 24-7 deficit that included a failure to convert a first-and-goal from the Colts 1 in the third quarter.

Roethlisberger, who faced questions about his future after three straight losses in which the offense showed little life, shook off another lackluster first half to lead the comeback. He threw a 39-yard touchdown to Diontae Johnson in the third quarter and touchdown passes of 5 yards to tight end Eric Ebron and 25 yards to JuJu Smith-Schuster in the fourth.

It came after the Steelers had just 25 yards and two first downs in the first quarter, and their only touchdown of the first half was set up by T.J. Watt’s strip sack and Mike Hilton’s fumble return to the Colts 3.

“We missed on some opportunities in the first half,” Tomlin said. “I don’t know if it was that dramatic. It’s a fine line between drinking wine and squashing grapes, as we say in this business.”

The fermentation process began after halftime for Roethlisberger. In the first 30 minutes, he completed 11 of 20 passes for 98 yards and a 68.3 rating. After intermission, he was a crisp 23 of 29 for 244 yards, three touchdowns and a 136.2 rating.

“Just believing in each other, believing that we can make plays,” Roethlisberger said of his second-half turnaround. “Guys made plays. That’s what we needed in the second half, was for guys to step up, make the tough catches, block.”

The Colts put up 217 yards and three touchdowns in the first half — two on drives of 70-plus yards — to take a 21-7 lead into the locker room. They increased the advantage to 24-7 with a field goal on the opening drive of the third quarter.

When the Steelers drove all the way to the Colts 1 and turned the ball over on downs, they were 20 minutes away from a fourth consecutive defeat.

“It was down,” defensive end Stephon Tuitt said of the mood. “We got punched in the face in the first half, and they did a good job of executing the plays they needed to make.”

The defense forced a three-and-out, and the Steelers took over at the Colts 39. On the first play, Roethlisberger spotted Johnson in single coverage and hit him for a diving 39-yard touchdown, the longest play of the game for the Steelers.

“I feel like it was the spark that we needed to get going,” said Johnson, who overcame two early drops to catch eight passes for 75 yards. “The defense started playing great, too. It gave them an extra boost and us extra momentum, and we were able to put up points on the board.”

While the defense kept forcing punts, Roethlisberger kept putting together touchdown drives. The first went 74 yards in five plays and was aided by two pass-interference penalties before Roethlisberger hit Ebron for a 5-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter.

On the next possession, Roethlisberger directed a 10-play, 84-yard drive to the end zone. He completed 6 of 8 passes for 69 yards, hitting Smith-Schuster with a 25-yard pass to provide the Steelers their first lead with 7:38 remaining.

Criticized for his inability to complete deep passes during the losing streak, Roethlisberger had four completions of at least 24 yards, including his touchdowns to Johnson and Smith-Schuster. Three came in the second half.

“I’ve been watching Ben like you guys have for 17 years,” Tomlin said. “A half of play is not going to define him. He’s a competitor. As long as there’s time on the clock, he’s going to keep coming at you.”

Philip Rivers, who like Roethlisberger is in his 17th season, had two chances to put the Colts back ahead. As effective as Rivers was in the first half — he completed 9 of 12 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown — Rivers reversed course in the second. After compiling a 144.4 rating in the first half, Rivers was 52.6 the rest of the way.

On the third play after Smith-Schuster’s touchdown, Rivers was intercepted by Hilton at the Steelers 5. The Colts got the ball back at their 15 with 2:16 remaining, but the drive got no further than the Steelers 33.

Roethlisberger then kneeled twice in victory — something he hadn’t done since Dec. 2 — to officially stamp the Steelers’ division title after a two-year playoff absence.

“I’m proud of the guys to finally get it done,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s cool to be division champs. We knew we were in the playoffs, but that wasn’t our end goal. This is one of our goals.”