ROETHLISBERGER, STEELERS STAY IN PLAYOFF MIX
PITTSBURGH
Ben Roethlisberger passed for 123 yards with a touchdown and an interception in likely his last start at Heinz Field, and the Pittsburgh Steelers handled the listless Cleveland Browns 2614 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 211⁄2 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. It was an honor Roethlisberger took by himself after teammates and fellow co-captains Cam Heyward and Derek Watt let him walk to the midfield logo alone.
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.
Roethlisberger was careful to point out he had no plans to make the last two games of his 18th season ceremonial.
The tank might be running low, but it’s not empty, and he showed flashes — briefly, anyway — of the play that made him a two-time Super Bowl champion and a Hall of Famer whenever he decides it’s over.
Yet if there’s been one constant during Roethlisberger’s career, it’s been his mastery of the Browns, who famously passed over the Ohio native in favor of tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. in the 2004 draft.
Roethlisberger’s victory improved his record to 26-3-1 against Cleveland and provided a small measure of revenge less than a year after he threw four interceptions in a first-round home playoff loss to the Browns last January.