Steelers defense rises up to shut down Giants
Pittsburgh tied for AFC North lead after third consecutive victory.
PITTSBURGH — The defense played its best game of the season to help lift the Steelers to a 24-14 victory against the New York Giants Sunday at Heinz Field.
B e n Ro e t h l i s b e r ge r t h r e w touchdown passes to Antonio Brown and Ladarius Green. Randy Bullock, signed on Saturday to sub for injured Chris Boswell, kicked three field goals and the Steelers added a safety.
Le’Veon Bell again was a workhorse, with 118 yards rushing on 29 carries. He also caught 6 passes for 64 yards. Green led them with 110 yards on 6 catches.
The Giants scored for the first time in the third quarter after a Bell fumble at the 17 — Eli Manning’s 13-yard pass to Rashad Jennings.
They scored a second time with 26 seconds left on Manning’s 1-yard pass to Sterling Shepard.
Rookie safety Sean Davis intercepted his first pass deep in Steelers territory to thwart yet another New York Giants scoring try early in the fourth quarter. Lawrence Timmons intercepted a pass at the 2 that helped turn the game around in the second quarter.
Their third consecutive victory kept the Steelers tied with the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North Division at 7-5.
Green caught his first touchdown pass with the Steelers and had 110 yards receiving to help lead them to a 21-7 lead after the third quarter.
Moments after the Steelers’ defense came up with a big goalline stand at the 3 — its second of the game — Bell lost a fumble at the Steelers’ 17 to give it right back to the Giants in scoring territory.
Two plays later, they did just that when Manning faked a handoff to Odell Beckham Jr. and hit Jennings short and he ran it in for a 13-yard touchdown to break the ice for the Giants.
The Steelers led 14-7 with 6:30 left in the third quarter.
They extended that to 21-7, going 88 yards on 7 plays on their next series. It began with a 33-yard pass to Green and it ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Green.
The Steelers scored three different ways to grab a 14-0 halftime lead.
Just when it appeared the Giants would score for the first time, in the second quarter, Timmons intercepted a Manning pass at the 2 and returned it 58 yards to the New York 40. It came on a second down at the nine and tight end Larry Donnell was open in the end zone, but Timmons leaped high and caught it.
It took the Steelers three plays to score. Brown caught Roethlisberger’s pass in the back of the end zone over cornerback Janoris Jenkins. Brown got one foot and his butt in bounds for the 22-yard touchdown. The t wopoint conversion pass failed and the Steelers led 11-0.