http://triblive.com/mobile/7298565-96/steelers-touchdown-yard
Steelers use big 4th quarter to dump Bengals
By Mark Kaboly Steelers Reporter
Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014, 4:27 p.m.
Updated 6 hours ago
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CINCINNATI — With his team facing near-impossible odds to claim the division with a loss to AFC North-leading Cincinnati on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin wasn't about to hold anything back.
And he didn't.
Despite being on the road in the shadow of his goal posts with eight minutes left, Ben Roethlisberger threw a 94-yard game-clinching touchdown to rookie Martavis Bryant to seal a 42-21 win over the Bengals that helped the Steelers remain in control of their fate over the final three weeks.
If the playoffs ended today, the Steelers (8-5) would be one of the two wild-card teams. However, if they win out — at Atlanta and home to Kansas City and Cincinnati — they would win the division and host a playoff game.
Of course, a couple of losses could mean no playoffs.
“Honestly, every game is big now,” center Maurkice Pouncey said. “This is the NFL, man. If we would've won all the games at first, we wouldn't be talking about how big this one is.”
The Bengals are 8-4-1, the Steelers 8-5 and the Ravens 8-5 in the AFC North with a host of other teams still alive.
“We had to punch our clocks early,” guard Ramon Foster said. “Our playoffs have started now. We had to punch our ticket now. We understand that there is a sense of urgency with everybody.”
It started with Tomlin nearly a week ago.
“The thing that I saw was when we came in after the loss (to New Orleans) was his focus,” safety Mike Mitchell said. “He didn't let anybody sulk. He quickly got us refocused, and that's what we needed.”
That and Tomlin's proclamation that “We just weren't going to live in our fears today.”
That mentality had a trickle-down effect.
“We weren't going to play it safe,” Foster said.
“We weren't going to play scared,” Roethlisberger said.
The Steelers were far from afraid of the Bengals.
In fact, they stared down a pair of deficits — the last coming after A.J. Green hauled in an 81-yard touchdown pass from Andy Dalton on the final play of the third quarter.
No fear.
The Steelers scored 25 points over an eight-minute span in the fourth quarter, and they did it every way imaginable.
• They ran the ball.
Le'Veon Bell rushed for 110 of his game-high 185 yards, including touchdown runs of 13 and 22 yards.
“We ran the same play two, three, four times in a row, consecutively, and those guys couldn't stop it,” Bell said.
• The much-maligned defense created a key turnover.
After Shaun Suisham's 44-yard field goal got the Steelers within 21-20, Dalton — who rushed for a 20-yard touchdown earlier in the game — had a bad exchange with running back Jeremy Hill. Arthur Moats recovered at the Bengals 24 with 12:45 left. It led to a Bell touchdown run and, after a successful 2-point play, a 28-21 lead.
“When he dropped it, it was like he double-clutched it,” Moats said. “When it hit the ground, we all just went for it.”
• The Steelers threw the ball.
Leading 28-21 with less than nine minutes left, the Steelers went for it. Backed up on the Steelers 6, Roethlisberger, who finished with 350 yards and three touchdown passes, let it rip to Bryant.
“I've underthrown him in practice because when he gets running, he's fast,” Roethlisberger said. “I just put it out there and let him run under it, and he did the rest.”
It was the second-longest touchdown reception in Steelers history.
It was a risk but a risk Tomlin was willing to take.
“That's life, particularly in this league,” Tomlin said.
Especially when you don't live in your fears.
“He was into it. He was pumped up,” Pouncey said about Tomlin. “When you are a leader and take charge like that and show that kind of spirit, it brings everybody else up. It was huge.”
Good to see the guys still respond to his leadership.
