SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 22, 2013
Steelers 38, Packers 31: Rookie Le'Veon Bell rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown and Ben Roethlisberger passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another as visiting Pittsburgh held on to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.
Roethlisberger finished 16-of-28 for 167 yards with an interception and Antonio Brown caught six passes for 105 yards for the Steelers (7-8), who are a game behind Baltimore and Miami for the final AFC wild card going into the final week of the regular season. Pittsburgh squandered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before taking advantage of a Matt Flynn fumble to punch in the go-ahead score on Bell's 1-yard run with 1:25 to play.
Eddie Lacy rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns before leaving with an ankle injury for the Packers (7-7-1), who will visit Chicago next week with the winner capturing the NFC North title. Flynn was 21-of-39 for 232 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and he had a chance to redeem himself for his fumble but misfired on the final play to allow the Steelers to escape.
The Steelers seemingly survived Bell's fumble on their own 2 by stopping the Packers on the goal line and blocking Mason Crosby's field-goal attempt, but a controversial illegal batting penalty on the blocked kick prolonged the drive for Lacy's 2-yard TD run to give Green Bay a 21-17 lead with 5:19 left in the third quarter. The Packers couldn't maintain the momentum, though, as Roethlisberger's 11-yard TD pass to Matt Spaeth capped a 68-yard drive to regain the lead and Cortez Allen jumped in front of a Flynn pass and went 40 yards for a score 18 seconds later.
Crosby's 22-yard field goal and John Kuhn's 1-yard plunge pulled Green Bay even at 31 with 7:14 to play, but Flynn coughed up the ball trying to scramble for a first down to give the Steelers the ball on the 17 and Bell scored five plays later. The Packers drove to the 1 but were called for a false start - which resulted in a 10-second run-off - and Flynn's last pass was too high for Jarrett Boykin.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Roethlisberger's TD run was his first since Week 16 of the 2010 season. … Packers LB Clay Matthews left in the first half with a thumb injury. … Brown (101) joined Hines Ward as the only Pittsburgh players with 100 receptions in a season.