Sent packing
PITTSBURGH — They still wear the title of the Super Bowl champions, yet there was nothing to suggest during a dismal five-game losing streak the Pittsburgh Steelers had anything like this left in them.
So many big plays, so much yardage against one of the NFL's best defenses, so many game-saving plays. The Steelers looked to be beaten a half-dozen times by Green Bay in the fourth quarter alone, only to give themselves one last chance — not just to win the game, but to keep their season alive.
On a day when the Steelers (7-7) finally played like champions again, one play was all Ben Roethlisberger needed. One play too many for the Packers.
Roethlisberger finished off an as desperate-as-it-gets 86-yard scoring drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to rookie Mike Wallace with no time remaining and the Steelers — more than awful for more than a month — rallied to beat Green Bay 37-36 Sunday.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy called it a classic December game. Heartbreaking, too, but also a tense and impossible-to-script game in which the Steelers led most of the way only to fall behind twice in the fourth quarter. They also took the kind of gamble that can ruin a season by failing to convert an onside kick while leading late in the game yet didn't lose.
"Not dead yet," coach Mike Tomlin said. "We've still got a pulse."
The same Steelers team that has lost five times while leading or tied in the fourth quarter finally found a way to win in the end. It was a crusher for the Packers (9-5), who were in position to clinch a playoff spot with a win and a Giants loss or tie. Instead, they will spend the next week wondering how they couldn't hold leads of 28-27 on Ryan Grant's 24-yard TD run with 7:49 remaining and 36-30 on Aaron Rodgers' 24-yard TD pass to James Jones with 2:06 to play.
"You lose on a last-second play, with a spectacular throw and catch, it's tough," rookie Clay Matthews said. "Hindsight's always 20-20 but we knew what we were getting ourselves into. It was a dogfight."
Oh, it was much more than that. Again, the Steelers showed they're capable of beating the good teams — they've defeated Minnesota, Denver, San Diego and Green Bay — in the same season they've lost to the Browns, Chiefs and Raiders. They're on the fringe of the AFC playoff race, but at least they're still in it going into next Sunday's home game against Baltimore (8-6).
Maybe this was what the Steelers needed 10 days after one of the most dreary losses in club history, a lifeless 13-6 defeat in Cleveland. Namely, a good team to play, a sense of desperation and their quarterback back on his game.
Roethlisberger went 29 of 46 with three TDs and 503 yards while becoming the first Steelers quarterback to throw for 500 yards; he broke Tommy Maddox's 2002 record of 473 yards. Roethlisberger kept the Steelers' decisive drive going by finding Santonio Holmes for 32 yards on fourth-and-7 and Heath Miller for 30 on third-and-15.With three seconds left on the clock when the play started, Roethlisberger located Wallace in the left front corner of the end zone with Josh Bell in coverage. Wallace managed to keep both feet in on a touchdown upheld by replay, and Jeff Reed — who also kicked three field goals — added the extra point.The final play was eerily similar to Roethlisberger's last-minute 6-yard TD pass to Santonio Holmes that beat Arizona in the Super Bowl in February."We didn't quit," Roethlisberger said. "Everybody believed we could do it."Remarkably, Wallace made no other catches except for his game-winner and a 60-yard TD on Pittsburgh's first play.Shortly before making his decisive catch, Wallace went to the locker room to get stitches to close a gash on his knee."It was kind of hard to run," Wallace said. "But that's just Ben. That's all I can say. That's just Ben."That was exactly what the Packers said, too, after their five-game winning streak ended and the Steelers' five-game losing streak ended."He's Big Ben. He's going to make plays; that's what he does," cornerback Jarrett Bush said.Roethlisberger had his second 400-yard and fifth 300-yard game this season. He is only the 10th player to throw for at least <B>Notes:</B> It was the first 37-36 score in NFL history. ... Pittsburgh has won 11 of its last 12 against NFC North teams. ... There were four lead changes in the fourth quarter. Two weeks before, there were five such changes in the final quarter of Oakland's 27-24 victory in Pittsburgh.
