Steelers use big second quarter to knock off Texans

PITTSBURGH >> Ben Roethlisberger passed for two touchdowns and wide receiver Antonio Brown added another on a gadget play during a dizzying stretch late in the first half, helping the Pittsburgh Steelers rally for a 30 23 win over the mistake prone Houston Texans on Monday night.

Pittsburgh (4 3) needed just over a minute to turn a 10 point deficit into an 11 point lead as the Texans self destructed while losing their third straight.

Roethlisberger finished with 265 yards passing. Le Bell racked up 145 yards of total offense and rookie wide receiver Martavis Bryant caught a momentum swinging touchdown pass in his first NFL start.

Arian Foster ran for 102 yards for Houston (3 4), but just 29 over the final three quarters. Ryan Fitzpatrick was 21 of 32 for 262 yards with two touchdowns and an interception but the Texans were undone by three turnovers.

Roethlisberger had touchdown passes to Martavis Bryant and Le Bell on each side of a scoring toss from
benroethlisbergerjersey Antonio Brown to Lance Moore helping Pittsburgh to a 24 13 lead at the break.

Pittsburgh spotted Houston a 13 0 lead only to score 24 points in a frantic final 3:08 of the first half.

Roethlisberger hit Bryant a 6 foot 4 rookie playing in his first NFL game for a 35 yard score to make it 13 10 with 1:27 left. Then the Texans began to self destruct.

Arian Foster fumbled deep in Houston territory two plays after Bryant score and the Steelers recovered.
customsteelersjersey Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who has faced heavy criticism for his play calling, went deep into his options to help the Steelers take the lead.

On first and goal, Roethlisberger flipped the ball to Brown, who was coming in motion. The Pro Bowl wide receiver then spun back around to his left and fired a strike to
RyanShazierJersey Moore in the end zone.

Houston issues escalated on the next snap when Ryan Fitzpatrick throw over the middle was deflected into the arms of Pittsburgh defensive end Brett Keisel. The 36 year old took the second pick of his career to the Houston 8.

Roethlisberger found Brown for a 6 yard gain and then hit Bell who was uncovered after going in motion for a touchdown.

Bell finished the half with 110 total yards, 91 receiving and 19 rushing. He is the first player in Pittsburgh history to top 100 yards of total offense in each of the team first seven games. Watt stunned.

Houston dominated the game first 25 minutes. Fitzpatrick found rookie
MikeMitchellJersey running back Alfred Blue for an 11 yard touchdown pass to end a 10 play, 94 yard drive on the Texans opening possession before Watt went to work.

The MVP candidate recovered a Roethlisberger fumble, leading to a 39 yard field goal by Randy Bullock that gave Houston a 10 0 lead. Watt later dropped Roethlisberger for his third
AntonioBrownJersey sack of the year.

It was the third time this season that Watt had a fumble recovery and a sack in the same game. No other player in the NFL has more than one.

The Texans played without rookie linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, who missed his sixth straight game due to a right knee injury. Houston didn need Clowney to get consistent pressure on Roethlisberger, disrupting the pocket whenever he dropped back to pass.

The Steelers came in staggering after falling to Cleveland by three touchdowns. Roethlisberger stressed his team was hardly ready to panic even after the franchise worst loss to Cleveland in 25 years. But Pittsburgh took an aggressive step to help out an offense that came in sixth in total yards but just 23rd in the league in points, activating 6 foot 4 Bryant for the first time.

Roethlisberger overshot Bryant on his first shot down the field on Pittsburgh first possession. The second time he searched for Bryant it ended with perhaps the biggest touchdown of Pittsburgh enigmatic season. Bryant caught the rainbow in the back of the end zone and kept both feet in bounds.

Barely 10 minutes later, the Steelers headed to the locker room with an improbable 11 point lead, undoing all of Houston work behind Foster, who had 88 yards rushing in the first half.

Giants offense lets them down in 24

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Sunday, December 4, 2016, 7:44 PM

PITTSBURGH The zero on the Giants’ half of the scoreboard at halftime Sunday at Heinz Field stared a hole in Big Blue’s season to date and foretold a dark evening amid the black and gold.

The visitors only trailed the Steelers by two scores, but in just one half of football, concerns about whether the Giants could hang with the big boys after a six game winning streak over lesser competition manifested themselves as more than valid.

The number one culprit in that half and through the duration of this 24 14 loss, per the trend of this entire season: Ben McAdoo’s offense in year three of his direction, including two as offensive coordinator and this year his first as head coach.

Eli Manning and Co. in the first half went punt, safety, interception, three and out. Then they started the second
DeAngeloWilliamsJersey half: three and out, turnover on downs, touchdown (starting at Pitt’s 17 yard line), three and out, interception, turnover on downs.

Odell Beckham Jr. needs to let it go when things do go his way

Such a pockmarked game summary suffices against the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears, because as the Giants defense proved again in Sunday’s second half with two forced turnovers, there is at least one formidable unit on this team that normally bails the Giants (8 4) out.

Ben McAdoo’s offense is unable to find any sort of rhythym against the Steelers. (Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

The defense didn’t have a day to remember, either, but they at least made plays to give the G Men a chance.

Damon Harrison’s forced fumble in a second straight game led to an Eli Apple recovery and a Rashad Jennings screen pass touchdown to draw within 14 7 at 6:37 to play in the third quarter. Apple’s first career NFL interception at 21 7 gave the Giants yet another chance that ended in a Manning pick.

But again, it was Manning making a killer mistake: an interception to Lawrence Timmons on a pass intended for Larry Donnell of all people in the second quarter, turned this from a neck and neck affair into the Giants constantly chasing.

Giants have tough road ahead if they want to make playoffs

Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers’ offense, meanwhile, exposed the improved Giants defense’s biggest weakness: its tackling and pursuit on the second level, specifically at linebacker.

Eli Manning throws for just 195 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
RyanShazierJersey (Jason Bridge/USA Today Sports)

Running back Le’Veon Bell, one of the NFL’s best, had his way most of the night with Giants would be tacklers. Tight end Ladarius Green, coming in with just five catches and 97 yards in three games this season, racked up 110 yards and a touchdown by mid
LawrenceTimmonsJersey way through the fourth quarter.

Giants strong safety Landon Collins, one of the leaders of the unit, even got toasted on a fake double move by Big Ben and Green to cap a crushing 7 play, 88 yard
Le’VeonBellJersey Steelers third quarter drive over just 3:21 of game clock time to answer Jennings’ touchdown emphatically and stretch the deficit back to 21 7.

And what do you know? McAdoo and Manning, who
steelersjerseycheap have spent full games allowing opposing defenses to dictate their ability to get Beckham the ball, again failed in the first half.

Giants WR Victor Cruz upset over no targets in loss to Steelers

Beckham had just one target in the Giants’ scoreless first half, and one catch for 10 yards. Surprise, surprise, McAdoo and Manning forced the ball to No. 13 in the second half, 13 targets by the final couple minutes of the ball game, and the Giants offense did show some brief life thanks to it.

Le’Veon Bell exposes the weaknesses of the Giants’ defense. (Jason Bridge/USA Today Sports)

The Giants will have plenty of reason to complain about some key bad officiating calls in this game, that’s for sure: A clear defensive pass interference on Pittsburgh’s Ross Cockrell in the first quarter was called offensive pass interference against Beckham, keeping the Giants backed up for a safety on an Ereck Flowers hold of James Harrison.

Then in the fourth quarter, Steelers safety Mike Mitchell who had taken an unappreciated cheap shot at Beckham in the first quarter blasted tight end Will Tye after the ball had passed on fourth down and yet no penalty for unnecessary roughness or a personal foul was called.

At the same time, the Giants’ own plenty of the blame. They went 0 for 3 on fourth downs. Tye couldn’t win a battle for a fourth down pass from Manning in the second half for a turnover on downs. When Mitchell hit Tye, Manning had rookie Sterling Shepard wide open and missed him.

Jason Pierre Paul leaves game with groin injury, will not return

Victor Cruz had zero targets, one week after Shepard had no balls thrown his way in Cleveland.

McAdoo refused to publicly light a fire under his tea after an unacceptable performance in Week 12 in Cleveland. His players knew their effort hadn’t been good enough and they said as much.

Sunday was a smack of harsh reality in the face, though, that when they make their characteristic mistakes, they are now playing teams who will make them pay.

Steelers steal one as Bengals implode in dramatic

After staging a dramatic fourth quarter comeback in driving rain, the Bengals collapsed in a penalty filled final minute to lose 18 16 to the Steelers in the wild card round of the AFC playoffs when Chris Boswell kicked a 35 yard field goal with 14 seconds left. The Steelers move on to face the Broncos next week in Denver.

The loss was stunning for Cincinnati, which has gone 25 years without a playoff win. The Bengals took a 16 15 lead with
AntonioBrownJersey 1:50 left in the game, but after getting the ball back with a chance to ice it, Jeremy Hill fumbled with 1:23 left in the game. Ben Roethlisberger, who had been sidelined with a shoulder injury since the end of the third quarter, came off the bench to direct the game winning drive.

The Bengals helped the Steelers out with a lack of discipline in the final minute. They committed back to back
SammieCoatesJersey personal fouls that moved the ball 30 yards to the Bengals’ 17, from where Boswell hit the game winner. Vontaze Burfict, who was out of control all night, took a cheap shot at Steelers receiver Antonio Brown for the first personal foul. Adam "Pacman" Jones then got flagged for another as he went after Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter, who was on the field.

"The Bengals did beat the Bengals today. How do you lose that game?" Cincy defensive end Carlos Dunlap said.

Jones left the locker room without answering questions, but posted an expletive filled video on Instagram.

"The f ref did a horrible f job," Jones said. He later deleted the post.

Burfict did not answer questions about his penalty, telling reporters they were "dumbass questions," but did defend Jones, saying Porter was shouting at Bengals players.

"That’s why Adam pushed him. [Porter] shouldn’t be on the field cussing us out," Burfict said. "The ref heard it all, but the ref threw the flag on Adam."

The Bengals have lost five straight first round games and have not won a playoff game since 1990. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is 0 7 in the playoffs, but he refused to point the finger at Jones after the game.

"I’m not going to single out our guys," Lewis said. "We had enough chances to win the football game."

AJ McCarron looked as if he would not have to pay for another drink in Cincinnati for the rest of his life before the game ending self destruction by the
LawrenceTimmonsJersey Bengals. Green with 1:50 left in the game. McCarron would not blame his teammates for losing their cool.

"I’m not here to throw shade at anybody," he said. "We win together and we lose
RyanShazierJersey together. It’s as simple as that. It doesn’t matter if somebody lost their poise, somebody didn’t, what happened. But Hill fumbled on the first play and Ross Cockrell recovered for the Steelers at the 9, setting up Roethlisberger’s dramatic return.

"This one’s on me," Hill said. "I take the full blame for it."

It was mind boggling to think the Steelers would need a game winning drive just minutes earlier. They were in total control of the game at 15 0, as McCarron struggled to get the Bengals’ offense moving in a driving rain storm.

The game was a wacky one with 18 penalties, seven personal fouls. The two teams were on the verge of brawls several times. There was a penalty on Steelers assistant Mike Munchak for pulling Bengals safety Reggie Nelson’s hair when Nelson followed a play onto the Pittsburgh sideline. Steelers defensive back William Gay was penalized for celebrating a defensive touchdown that was called off after a review.

Pittsburgh went up 15 0 with 5:02 left in the third quarter on an acrobatic catch by receiver Martavis Bryant. Roethlisberger was knocked out of the game on the final play of the third quarter on a Burfict sack. He was carted off the field to cheers from the Paul Brown Stadium crowd, some of whom threw things at him.

The Bengals cut the score to 15 7 on a Hill 1 yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. With Jones at quarterback, the Steelers stalled. Mike Nugent’s 36 yard field goal for the Bengals made it 15 10 with 5:17 left.

Cincinnati got the ball back with 3:28 left and McCarron marched the Bengals down the field, converting a fourth down and then finding Green on third and 7 for the 25 yard touchdown and a 16 15 lead with 1:50 to play. Burfict intercepted Jones on the Steelers’ first play of their next drive, but Hill gave it right back.

Roethlisberger completed five passes to move the ball to the Bengals’ 47. He then threw high to Brown, who was hit in the head by Burfict, drawing the unnecessary roughness penalty, which was followed by Jones’ unsportsmanlike
ArtieBurnsJersey conduct call to move the ball to the 17 and set up the game winner for Boswell.

"It’s disappointing," Lewis said. "Our guys fought their tails off all year, fought their tail off today, got back and went ahead, and then we destructed on ourselves.".

Ravens frustrate Big Ben just enough in Steelers’ loss

BALTIMORE The Baltimore Ravens endured five miserable weeks without a win before finally ending the drought against the Steelers.

Pittsburgh can only hope to avoid a similar skid.

After losing four in a row their longest dry stretch under coach John Harbaugh the Ravens (4 4) sat through a bye week before returning Sunday to beat Pittsburgh 21 14 , their first victory since Sept. 25.

was the kind of win that we need, said receiver Steve Smith, who returned from an ankle injury to catch four passes for 47 yards.

Pittsburgh (4 4) has dropped three in a row to fall into a first place tie with Baltimore in the AFC North.

The return of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wasn enough to right the Steelers , who got only 36 yards from their running game and were penalized 13 times for 99 yards.

record tells us what we are, Roethlisberger said. at the halfway point. We use this as kind of a halftime. We need to be a great second half team. things we learned on Sunday about the those bitter rivals known as the Ravens and Steelers:

SLIDE RULE: The Ravens received a scare when quarterback Joe Flacco slid on the turf at the end of an impromptu run and appeared to severely twist his surgically repaired left knee.

Luckily for the Ravens, the problem was a broken leg brace, which was quickly corrected.

looked like there was something sticking out
SeanDavisJersey of the side of my leg, Flacco said. could see it was the brace, and it was putting a lot of pressure
LawrenceTimmonsJersey on my leg. fun at what was initially perceived to be a serious issue, Baltimore Orioles backup catcher Caleb Joseph posted on Twitter, offering to host Flacco at Camden Yards sometime in the future for a free sliding seminar .

DEEP THOUGHTS: Although Steelers receiver Antonio Brown scored his second career touchdown against the Ravens, the four time Pro Bowler had problems getting open downfield.

linebacker, the corner, the safety . they used a lot of guys to take me away, Brown said.

Baltimore was content to let Roethlisberger complete a few short passes, but Pittsburgh lack of a running game and inability to go deep clearly gave the Ravens some momentum.

If he to avoid getting triple teamed, Brown could use a little help from the team other receivers.

guys have to step up, he said. just shows that people got respect for me. But we have to find a way to win no matter what they do. THAT LINE: Ravens rookie Ronnie Stanley returned to his left tackle spot after missing four straight games due to a foot injury.

It did not go well. Stanley was called for holding three times and also was flagged for illegal use of hands.

I know I can play better, he said.

Stanley, the sixth overall pick in the NFL draft, said he ailing foot was still a bit sore. But the victory eased the pain.

was a fight out there, he said. got the
RyanShazierJersey win. That all that matters, he said.

SELF INFLICTED WOUNDS: The Steelers know they got only themselves to blame for getting so far behind in a winnable game.

Pittsburgh converted only four of 17 third downs, was repeatedly penalized and even failed to execute an onside kick in the final minute.

was pretty pathetic, guard David DeCastro said. know, when you look up in the third quarter and there two first downs, it kind of frustrating and an empty feeling. On third downs, we just couldn capitalize. There were penalties, This was just a really frustrating game. ON THE OTHER SIDE: Mike Wallace put the Ravens ahead for good in the second quarter with a 95 yard catch and run for a score .

Wallace wasn so much
SammieCoatesJersey pleased about beating his former team as he was about getting the Ravens a much needed victory.

was a little sweeter because it was against my old team, but I haven been there in a while, Wallace said. really want to win because we need to win to get
Le’VeonBellJersey the lead in the division. That was the only thing that mattered.