SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 7, 2014
Steelers 42, Bengals 21: Ben Roethlisberger passed for 350 yards and three touchdowns while Le'Veon Bell surpassed 200 yards from scrimmage for a record third straight game as visiting Pittsburgh posted a much-needed victory.
Roethlisberger completed 25-of-39 passes and Bell gained 185 yards on the ground and 50 through the air for the Steelers (8-5), who scored 25 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull within one-half game of Cincinnati atop the tight AFC North. Antonio Brown had nine receptions for 117 yards for Pittsburgh, which plays at Atlanta, hosts Kansas City and closes the season at home against the Bengals.
Andy Dalton passed for 302 yards and two touchdowns while A.J. Green made 11 catches for a career-high 224 yards and a score for the Bengals (8-4-1), who had won five of their previous six games to provide some cushion in the division. Cincinnati travels to Cleveland and hosts Denver prior to visiting Pittsburgh.
With the Steelers trailing by one in the fourth quarter, linebacker Arthur Moats sacked Dalton and recovered the fumble at the Bengals 24 before Bell scored on a 13-yard run off left tackle. Roethlisberger found Heath Miller for a two-point conversion and hit a wide-open Martavis Bryant down the right sideline for a 94-yard TD and 35-21 lead before Bell bounced outside and down the left sideline for a 22-yard score that sealed it.
Roethlisberger connected with Brown on three consecutive plays for 56 yards during an 80-yard drive and capped it with a 10-yard pass to Bell with 5:24 left in the third quarter for a 17-14 advantage, but Dalton found Green down the right sideline for an 81-yard touchdown two plays later to put Cincinnati ahead. Roethlisberger opened the scoring early in the second with a 1-yard TD pass to Miller before Dalton made a 10-yard scoring toss to Jermaine Gresham and then rumbled 20 yards untouched around right end on a read-option play to make it 14-7.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Bell joined former Chicago RB Walter Payton (1977) as the only players in NFL history to surpass 200 yards from scrimmage in three consecutive games. … Green recorded his 20th career 100-yard receiving performance. ... The passing play from Roethlisberger to Bryant was the longest from scrimmage in the NFL this season.