Ben Roethlisberger passed for 268 yards and two touchdowns as the Pittsburgh Steelers rode a big first half to a 27-24 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in Nashville.
The Steelers built a 20-point lead in the third quarter, then held on as Stephen Gostkowski missed wide right on a potential tying 45-yard field goal with 19 seconds left.
Pittsburgh (6-0) not only remained unbeaten but also knocked the Titans (5-1) from the ranks of the undefeated.
Roethlisberger was 32 of 49 with three interceptions and two touchdown passes to Diontae Johnson. Benny Snell added a touchdown run.
Ryan Tannehill completed 18 of 30 passes for 220 yards for Tennessee, with scoring passes to Corey Davis and A.J. Brown, who had 153 receiving yards. Derrick Henry ran for 75 yards and a touchdown.
The Steelers ate up 9:18 on the game's first possession, moving 75 yards in 16 plays and taking a 7-0 lead on Roethlisberger's 11-yard toss to Johnson, who beat coverage by cornerback Tye Smith.
Next time up, Pittsburgh moved 61 yards in 13 plays and went ahead 14-0 on Snell's 1-yard sweep.
The Titans put together a 12-play, 75-yard drive and pulled to within 14-7 in the second quarter on Tannehill's 4-yard scoring pass to Davis, who is just off the COVID-19 list.
The Steelers answered with Chris Boswell's 38-yard field goal for a 17-7 lead.
The Titans offense faltered, and Ray-Ray McCloud returned the resulting punt 57 yards to the Tennessee 17 with 1:35 left in the half. That was enough time for Roethlisberger and Johnson to hook up again, with Johnson spinning away from coverage at the 5 to polish off a 9-yard touchdown play for a 24-7 halftime score.
Boswell tacked on a 30-yarder in the third quarter for a 27-7 advantage.
Brown was untouched as he turned Tannehill's short pass into a 73-yard scoring play to close it to 27-14.
Jayon Brown's interception of a Roethlisberger pass set up Gostkowski's 51-yard field goal to cut it to 27-17 heading into the fourth quarter.
Henry went airborne for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 27-24 with 10:13 left in regulation.
--Field Level Media
Pittsburgh | Tennessee | |
James Conner | Player | Derrick Henry |
20 | Attempts | 20 |
82 | Yards | 75 |
4.1 | Avg Yards | 3.8 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
24 | Long | 17 |
Pittsburgh | Tennessee | |
JuJu Smith-Schuster | Player | A.J. Brown |
9 | Receptions | 6 |
85 | Yards | 153 |
9.4 | Avg Yards | 25.5 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
28 | Long | 73 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Pittsburgh | 362 | 94 | 268 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 |
Tennessee | 292 | 82 | 210 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0.0 | 2 |