Big Ben pulls off big rally

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Ben Roethlisberger threw two interceptions on his first 12 passes. The Pittsburgh Steelers failed to score in the first half for the first time in more than two years, and they still trailed by 10 approaching the two-minute warning.

So when Big Ben muscled his way over the goal line with five seconds left for a 20-16 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, he wasn’t sure where to rank this comeback.

“Horrible games that you find a way to win? Pretty special,” he said.

One week after Roethlisberger had a perfect quarterback rating, he overcame three interceptions and a 16-0 deficit by leading touchdown drives on the Steelers’ last two possessions, and Pittsburgh escaped with its sixth straight victory.

“Really, really awesome fight,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “The bottom line in our business is winning, and we took care of business. Style points were quite ugly, or few, but we got the job done.”

Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown on a 78-yard touchdown to get on the board, found Juju Smith-schuster on a pair of shoulder fades down the sidelines and took care of the final score on his own. The Steelers had one timeout from the 1 when Roethlisberger rolled to his right and barely got the ball across.

“I don’t know what option I am, but it’s way down the list,” he said. “You just find a way.”

The Steelers (7-2-1) likely ended any playoff hopes for Jacksonville (37), which beat them twice last year, including the divisional playoffs. The Jaguars, who controlled the game until the last five minutes, now have dropped six in a row.

Jaguars (-5) at Bills, 10 a.m. Sunday; Steelers (-5½) at Broncos, 1:25 p.m. Sunday

NEXT:

At Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.

RECAP: Saquon Barkley ran for a career-high 142 yards and scored three touchdowns, and New York held on to win consecutive games for the first time since December 2016.

Eli Manning also threw two touchdowns, and Giants linebacker Alec Ogletree returned one of the defense’s four interceptions 15 yards for another score in New York’s biggest point output of the season.

The Giants (3-7) never trailed. Manning found a wide-open Barkley on a 6-yard TD pass on the opening series, and the No. 2 overall pick in the draft scored from 5 yards out on the second possession to give New York the lead for good.

Jameis Winston replaced a turnover-plagued Ryan Fitzpatrick in the third quarter and led four touchdown drives for Tampa Bay (3-7).

QUOTABLE: “I just know that we’re playing better, and I just love to see these guys in here after the game with smiles on their faces. We just put it all together, so it’s always a lot more fun when you win.” — Beckham

NEXT: Giants at Eagles (-6½), 10 a.m.

Sunday; Buccaneers (-3) vs. 49ers, 10 a.m. Sunday The Associated Press