Big Ben wins in his Heinz farewell

PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger passed for 123 yards with a touchdown and an interception in likely his last start at Heinz Field, and the Steelers handled the listless Browns 26-14 on Monday night to keep their postseason hopes alive.

Pittsburgh (8-7-1) needs a win at Baltimore next week combined with a loss by Indianapolis to Jacksonville to reach the playoffs for the 12th time in Roethlisberger’s 18 seasons.

He hardly did it alone. Rookie Najee Harris ran for a career-best 188 yards and a touchdown, Chris Boswell kicked four field goals and T.J. Watt sacked Baker Mayfield four times to give him 21 ¹/2 on the season, one short of the NFL record set by Hall of Famer Michael Strahan in 2001.

Pittsburgh’s defense sacked Mayfield nine times in all as Cleveland (7-9) — which was eliminated from postseason contention on Sunday — inexplicably put the game on Mayfield’s tattered shoulders rather than feed running back Nick Chubb against the NFL’s worst rush defense.

Chubb ran 12 times for 58 yards while Mayfield threw it 37 times, completing just 16, for 185 yards with two touchdowns and two picks, hardly making a compelling case to be the team’s long-term solution at a position where instability has been the norm for decades.

Things are far different in Pittsburgh. In more ways than one.

Roethlisberger, now 39, has defined the franchise from the moment he took over for an injured Tommy Maddox as a rookie two weeks into the 2004 season.

The sellout crowd roared as Roethlisberger jogged out onto the Heinz Field turf for the 135th time as the starting quarterback and began chanting “Let’s Go Ben! Let’s Go Ben!” as he made his way out for the opening coin toss.

Roethlisberger had tears in his eyes during a postgame interview with ESPN.

“I’m just so thankful for these fans and this place. There’s no place like it,” he said.