Roethlisberger throws 6 TDs in Steelers’ win

PITTSBURGH — Baltimore took an early lead, but the Steelers came back with a vengeance to beat the Ravens, 43-23, Sunday night at Heinz Field.
What else would you expect on the night the Steelers officially retired Joe Greene’s No. 75? Or on a night when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger set an NFL record?
Greene’s jersey number was retired at halftime.
Roethlisberger threw for six touchdowns in his second consecutive game to give him an NFL record of 12 touchdowns in two games. The previous record was 11, held by Tom Flores and Tom Brady.
“He does what we need him to do, but I’m not surprised by anything that Ben does,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “We need him to continue doing what he does and we acknowledge that.”
The win, Pittsburgh’s third straight, lifted them ahead of Baltimore (5-4) with a 6-3 record. The Steelers trail first-place Cincinnati (5-2-1) by percentage points in the AFC North Division.
“It was a big game for us,” Tomlin said. “They beat us by 20 at their place and we returned the favor and beat them by 20 at our place.
“It depends on what we do going forward whether it’s a defining moment for us or not.”
The Ravens struck first when Joe Flacco hit Torrey Smith from 35 yards out for a touchdown and a 7-0 Baltimore lead with 9:41 left in the first quarter. The one-play drive followed a 25-yard punt return by Jacoby Jones. It was Baltimore’s second possession of the game and followed a three-and-out by the Steelers.
The Steelers got their initial first down with two minutes left in the first quarter when Roethlisberger passed to Antonio Brown for 13 yards to the 18 and LeGarrette Blount got another on a four-yard run to the 31. But the drive ended on a hands-to-the-face penalty against Maurkice Pouncey and three consecutive sacks of Roethlisberger.
“It didn’t start out the way we would have liked,” Tomlin said. “But what I liked about our offense was that we needed to score touchdowns and we stayed with it and did that. The defense got us started, but we carried it through.”
Lorenzo Taliaferro fumbled on Baltimore’s next possession and Brice McCain recovered for Pittsburgh and returned it 26 yards to the Baltimore 27-yard line. The Ravens committed three penalties on a 7-yard pass from Roethlisberger to Brown pass play and the Steelers got a first-and-goal from the 10-yard line. Blount carried for three, then two to the five before Roethlisberger passed to Le’Veon Bell for the tying touchdown with 7:18 left in the first half.
After a questionable roughing the passer penalty against Stephen Tuitt, James Harrison pressured Flacco into an interception by Jason Worilds and the Steelers were in business again at the Baltimore 30-yard line. Roethlisberger passed for 19 yards and a touchdown to Martavis Bryant and the Steelers led for the first time, 14-7, with 5:24 left in the first half.
Harrison finished the game with two sacks, seven tackles, two tackles for losses and four quarterback hurries. “He’s not a regular guy, he’s James Harrison,” Tomlin said. “He continues to work himself into shape and he continues to produce for us.”
The Ravens drove to the Steelers’ 28-yard line, but settled for a 46-yard field goal by Justin Tucker with 1:44 left in the second quarter. The scoring drive covered 49 yards in 10 plays.
But the Steelers weren’t done yet, as Roethlisberger passed 47 yards to Markus Wheaton for a touchdown and Brad Wing threw to Matt Spaeth for a two-point conversion to make Pittsburgh’s lead 22-10 at the break.
Flacco got off to a fast start, but Roethlisberger had the better stats at halftime. After his opening TD pass to Smith, Flacco had a perfect 158.3 passer rating, but by halftime, had completed only nine of 17 passes for 127 yards, with an interception and a 72.4 rating. Conversely, Roethlisberger completed only one of his first four passes, but finished the first half at 12 of 17 for 148 and three touchdowns for a 136.8 rating.
Tomlin correctly challenged a Flacco incompletion and it became Pittsburgh’s second sack of the game. It seemed inconsequential, but it forced the Ravens to punt instead of going for a fourth-and-3.
And on Pittsburgh’s first play after the punt, Terrell Suggs drew a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty to move Pittsburgh out to the 35-yard line. Elvis Dumervil drew a personal foul after a 9-yard pass to Antonio Brown to move the ball to the Baltimore 48-yard line.
The drive stalled, but Pittsburgh got the ball back at the end of the third quarter, when Roethlisberger converted a third down with a 10-yard pass to Bell.
Before the fourth quarter was a minute old, Roethlisberger passed to Brown for 54 yards and a touchdown to make it 29-10 with 14:01 remaining. Pittsburgh’s scoring drive covered 85 yards in seven plays.
Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown that kept the Ravens in the game by cutting Pittsburgh’s lead to 29-17 with 13:47 remaining.
The Steelers responded with a methodical drive that ended when Roethlisberger passed to Bryant from 18 yards out for the clincher with 9:31 remaining. The drive covered 71 yards on nine plays and pushed the Steelers’ lead to 36-17.
Pittsburgh tried to let the Ravens back in, but Baltimore took too long to score, with Flacco passing to Crockett Gilmore for a touchdown with 2:58 remaining. The Ravens cut the Pittsburgh lead to 36-23, but the two-point try was stopped. Baltimore got the ball on a botched snap from center that the Ravens recovered.
The Steelers recovered the onside kick and padded their lead when Roethlisberger passed to Spaeth from 33 yards out on fourth down for a touchdown to make the final score 43-23.