Dec 25, 2016 6 min read

PITTSBURGH – The road to the AFC Championship might not go through Pittsburgh, but at least there will be an off ramp that heads to Heinz Field.

The Steelers assured themselves of that Sunday when they clinched the AFC North championship with a thrilling 31-27 victory over rival Baltimore on the first Christmas Day game in team history.

Pittsburgh (10-5), which has won six consecutive games, rallied from a 20-10 deficit early in the fourth quarter on back-to-back 7-yard touchdowns by running back Le’Veon Bell, one on a run and the other on a pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

But Baltimore (8-7), which was eliminated from playoff contention, regained the lead, 27-24 with 1:18 remaining, on a 10-yard run by fullback Kyle Juszczyk that left many of the 66,276 in attendance stunned and wondering if the Ravens would again snatch a victory away from the Steelers.

“Surprise, surprise, the kings of the north are back,” said Steelers safety Mike Mitchell. “I’ve been saying that all year. It’s about time we got it. Everybody wanted to say what they wanted to say about us throughout the course of the year. I still hate how the game went down, but I’m extremely happy with the win.”

Baltimore had won six of the past seven meetings between the two AFC North rivals, including the previous four.

“We’ve been in games like this this season,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, whose team has clinched the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs. “We’ve persevered in some and not in others. But we’ve grown from all of our experiences.”

Playing without tight end Ladarius Green, who was out with a concussion, and wide receiver Sammie Coates, who suffered a hamstring injury in practice Thursday, the Steelers were relying heavily on tight end Jesse James and receivers Eli Rogers and Demarcus Ayers, the latter a practice squad player who was in his first NFL game.

But they also had Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and a lot of moxie.

As the Steelers readied to take the field at their own 25-yard line with 1:18 remaining and trailing 27-24, Bell looked at Brown and told him he would score the game-winning touchdown.

“He actually did,” said Brown. “We’re over there by the heaters and we got down to that final drive and he was like, ‘A.B., you’re going down there for the game-winner.’ I’m just grateful I was able to do it.”

Roethlisberger, who had thrown two costly interceptions in a forgettable third quarter that helped the Ravens build their 20-10 lead, sandwiched a pass to Brown with two to James, the second of which was a 16-yard gain to the Baltimore 48.

Roethlisberger connected with Ayers on a 9-yard gain to the 39 and the rookie quickly got out of bounds to preserve the team’s third timeout.

“It wasn’t really about the catch, it was about putting us in position to get the clock stopped,” said Ayers, who had earlier drawn a 35-yard pass interference penalty to set up a Bell touchdown.

“Ben trusted me in a game, with under two minutes, as a rookie. There were a lot of emotions going on. I’m just glad they trusted in me and gave me the ball at the right time.”

Roethlisberger then made perhaps his best pass, escaping the rush of Elvis Dumervil and rolling to his right to find Rogers for a 20-yard gain to the 19 on a leaping catch.

“I saw it in the air, saw it was in my radius and I knew I was going to catch it,” said Rogers.

A game-tying field-goal attempt now within their range, the Steelers went for the win with 32 seconds remaining.

Roethlisberger threw a 6-yard pass to Cobi Hamilton and Pittsburgh called its final timeout, then tossed a 9-yard gain to James at the Baltimore 4, spiking the ball to stop the clock with 13 seconds left.

With no timeouts, the Steelers couldn’t be tackled short of the end zone.

Roethlisberger threw a three-yard slant to Brown on the next play. Brown caught the ball and was stood up by 240-pound linebacker C.J. Mosley and 195-pound safety Eric Weddle. As they started to push Brown backward, he reached back with the football and broke the plane of the goal line.

“Scramble and spike,” said guard Ramon Foster of what the Steelers had planned if Brown didn’t get into the end zone. “Thank goodness that dude is a pro. He knew he had to get across the line. Thank God for the rule of breaking the plane. You couldn’t ask for a better play.

“My thought was go push him in. But A.B. turned around and handed me the ball and I spiked it. That’s a lineman’s dream.”

“That was a great throw by Ben, trusting me to come in there and not stop,” said Brown, who had 10 catches for 96 yards. “I was just running to the ball, going in there and take the contact, and then being aware to get the ball over the goal line.”

The Steelers are in the postseason for the third year in a row and knocked Baltimore out ofplayoff contention.

For three quarters, it looked like the Ravens would get the better of this matchup. Baltimore’s running game controlled the play in first half, though the Steelers led, 7-6, on a 20-yard TD pass from Roethlisberger to Xavier Grimble.

The Ravens churned out 122 rushing yards and quarterback Joe Flacco made enough passes that Baltimore had held the ball for nearly 27 of the first 45 minutes.

And when they turned two Roethlisberger interceptions into 11 points while also getting a 46-yard Justin Tucker field goal on another time-consuming drive, things looked grim for the Steelers.

“It’s disappointing,” said Flacco, who threw for 262 yards with one touchdown and one interception, which came on the game’s final play.

“I don’t know what else to say besides that. Disappointed is disappointed. We had it right there.”

Until they didn’t.

“It’s pretty special the way we won it,” said Roethlisberger, who passed for 279 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Brown surpassed 100 receptions for the season, joining Hall of Fame receiver Marvin Harrison as the only other player with four consecutive 100-catch seasons. … Bell moved into fifth place on the team’s all-time rushing list with 4,045 yards. His 1,268 yards this season are the fourth-most in team history. … The AFC North title is the Steelers’ fifth in 10 seasons under Tomlin. … The win was the 600th in franchise history as the Steelers joined the Bears, Packers and Giants as the only teams with 600 victories. … James Harrison led the Steelers with 11 tackles. Lawrence Timmons and Ryan Shazier each had 10. … Timmons and Bud Dupree had sacks. Shazier had Pittsburgh’s interception.