With the clock ticking and a season filled with promise evaporating, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took the snap, turned to his left and put the American Football Conference North title in the hands of Antonio Brown.
The star wide receiver caught the ball at the Baltimore one and waited for the hit he knew was coming. When it arrived from Ravens safety Eric Weddle and linebacker C.J. Mosley, Brown ducked his head and stretched the ball across the goal-line for a playoff-clinching touchdown that symbolized his team’s resilience.
Reeling last month, and reeling early in the fourth quarter at home on Christmas Day against archrivals who have more than had their number in recent years, the Steelers are heading to the playoffs, while Baltimore (8-7) were eliminated from contention.
Photo: AFP
Brown’s lunging four-yard score with nine seconds left lifted them to a gripping 31-27 victory and a second division title in three years, delivering just as Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell predicted Brown would.
“Over there by the heaters before the final drive,” he said. “A.B., you got to go down there and get the game winner.”
It was a play Brown’s teammates have seen many times, just never with so much on the line.
“That’s A.B.,” wide receiver Damarcus Ayers said. “He does it so much in practice, it doesn’t ‘wow’ you in a game. In this particular moment it’s like: ‘He’s done it again.’”
Brown finished with 10 receptions for 96 yards to join Marvin Harrison as the only player with four straight 100-catch seasons.
Roethlisberger shook off a pair of third-quarter interceptions to finish with 279 yards passing and three touchdowns.
Bell ran for 122 yards and a score, and hauled in another on an ad-libbed play by Roethlisberger as Pittsburgh rallied from a 10-point deficit to win their sixth straight.
The Steelers (10-5) will host during the wild-card weekend — heady territory considering they were 4-5 after falling to Dallas on Nov. 13. They have not lost again.
“It’s pretty special the way we won it,” Roethlisberger said. “Especially after feeling the way I felt at a certain point in that game, and feeling like you let guys down and you blew it.”
Baltimore miss the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
“With everything you work for and you don’t reach your goal, so it’s, it’s just somber,” Weddle said. “It’s down. Give them credit. Ben got it rolling.”
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