Oct 21, 2014 5 min read

PITTSBURGH – It took seven weeks, but the Steelers finally closed out a close game.

Pittsburgh put up 24 points in the final three minutes of the first half and rode that momentum to a 30-23 victory over Houston Monday night at Heinz Field.

Pittsburgh (4-3) forced three Houston turnovers – two in the closing moments of the first half – and turned them into 17 points.

The loss dropped the Texans to 3-4.

Ben Roethlisberger completed 23 of 33 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Le’Veon Bell caught a career-high eight passes for 88 yards and a touchdown and added 57 rushing yards on 12 carries for the Steelers.

But until a late first-half flurry, it looked like the Steelers were dead in the water.

After Houston scored on its first three possessions, getting an 11-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Alfred Blue and a pair of field goals from Ryan Bullock to take a 13-0 lead, the Steelers found themselves backed up at their own 14-yard line and facing third-and-10 midway through the second quarter.

Roethlisberger dumped a short pass over the middle to Bell, who beat linebacker Brian Cushing to the inside and scrambled up the field for a 43-yard gain.

The Steelers eventually settled for a 44-yard Shaun Suisham field goal that trimmed Houston’s lead to 13-3 with 3:08 remaining in the half.

To that point, Houston had gained 101 rushing yards on 18 carries, with Arian Foster doing most of the damage. Foster had gained 88 yards on 11 attempts.

But after a first-down run by Foster gained just two yards on the next possession, the Texans went to the air. A Lawrence Timmons sack and incompletion later, Houston was forced to punt.

Roethlisberger found Bell again for a short completion that the running back turned into a 28-yard gain to the Houston 35. And then Roethlisberger connected deep with rookie wide receiver Martavis Bryant, who was active for the first time this season, for a touchdown pass in the back of the end zone that cut Houston’s lead to 13-10.

The momentum had clearly turned.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said center Maurkice Pouncey. “It was exciting. There’s up and down in every football game. Every team slips up at some point and the other team takes advantage of it. That’s what happened.”

Return man Danieal Manning dropped the ensuing kickoff at the 1-yard line, and by the time he picked up the football and started upfield he was swarmed by the Steelers at the 5.

On second-and-9 from the 6, linebacker Jason Worilds, who had missed a sack of Fitzpatrick on Houston’s opening possession, hit Foster in the backfield and forced a fumble that was recovered by teammate Sean Spence at the Texans’ 3.

Inside the dreaded red zone, where they had scored on just one of their past seven possessions, the Steelers went to a little trickery as Roethlisberger pitched the ball to wide receiver Antonio Brown, who had gone in motion. Brown, a lefty, reversed his field and with Houston All-Pro defensive end J.J. Watt in pursuit, threw a perfect pass to receiver Lance Moore in the end zone for a 17-13 Pittsburgh lead with 1:03 remaining in the half.

The Texans came out attacking following a touchback. But it would be a mistake.

This time, defensive end Brett Keisel tipped a Fitzgerald pass at the line of scrimmage and plucked it out of the air for an interception, returning it to the Houston 8.

“I’ve been getting hell after that play, and I still am now about not scoring,” said Keisel. “It was a good play for us. The offense went out and got six points, so it was a big momentum swing for us.”

Two plays later, Roethlisberger tossed a 2-yard TD pass to Bell that gave the Steelers a 24-13 lead with 14 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Houston trimmed the lead to 24-16 with a field goal early in the fourth quarter, but with the lead cut to eight points – a touchdown and a two-point conversion – the Steelers put together a lengthy drive, helped along by two Houston penalties that converted third downs, that ended in a 30-yard field goal by Suisham to make it 27-16.

Mike Mitchell then forced a fumble by wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins at midfield that was recovered by Troy Polamalu and returned to the Houston 39, setting up another Suisham field goal, this one from 40 yards, putting the Steelers ahead 30-16 with just more than three minutes remaining.

Fitzpatrick threw a 1-yard TD pass to Foster with 1:31 remaining that made it 30-23, but reserve tight end Michael Palmer recovered the ensuing onside kick and the Steelers ran out the clock to end.

“It was a nice explosion for us and we rode that momentum for the remainder of the performance,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

Bell passed Mike Wallace for the most yards in team history in his first two seasons with the team. Wallace had 2,100. Bell, who had 145 total yards Monday night, has 2,197 in his first 20 games. … Bell also became the first player in Steelers history to record more than 100 yards from scrimmage in seven consecutive games to open a season. … Bryant’s TD catch on his first career reception made him the first Steelers rookie to do so since Matt Spaeth in 2007. … Right tackle Marcus Gilbert left in the second quarter to be evaluated for a concussion. He was replaced by Mike Adams.