JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Ben Roethlisberger has directed 34 fourth-quarter comebacks and 45 game-winning drives in a career that will surely end with his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But there aren't many that will rank up there in terms of pure comebacks as what he did Sunday at Jacksonville's TIAA Bank Field.
Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass to Vance McDonald with 2:28 left in the game, then scored on a one-yard run with only five seconds remaining to steal a victory away from the Jaguars, as the Steelers won 20-16. It was their sixth win in a row and improved their record to 7-2-1. The 16-point second-half deficit was the largest overcome by Roethlisberger in his career.
The resilience shown by his team had Mike Tomlin in a pretty good mood, as could be expected:
It was an unexpected ending to be sure, especially considering Roethlisberger had connected on just 11-of-24 passes for 66 yards and three interceptions before he hit Antonio Brown on a 78-yard bomb with 1:17 remaining in the third quarter to finally put the Steelers on the board and cut Jacksonville's lead to 16-6.
Even though the Steelers missed on a two-point conversion that would have made it a one-score game, it stemmed the tide and quieted Jacksonville's defense, which to that point, had been having its way with the Steelers' offense. And the Jaguars, now 3-7, weren't shy about letting the Steelers -- Roethlisberger in particular -- know it.
"They’re a really good defense," Roethlisberger said. "They like to talk a lot, before the game, during the game. But I’m carrying the game ball home."
Specifically, Roethlisberger said linebacker Telvin Smith wasn't afraid to let him know he wasn't having his best day in a first half that saw him throw two interceptions and post a 10.1 passer rating one week after he had put up a 158.3 passer rating in a rout of Carolina. This, after the Jaguars had intercepted him six times in two meetings last season, both Jacksonville wins.
But Roethlisberger shook off that bad start to close the game out by completing 16 of his final 23 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns.
What kept him going?
"Not letting my guys down. That’s the thing that bothers me the most," Roethlisberger said. "I don’t get mad at myself when I throw interceptions. I get mad at myself because I feel like I let my guys down. They have a linebacker, (Smith), that wanted to let me know every time I threw an interception. He found me and let me know. It was a little motivation, too. I’m glad to win the game."
And he made sure the Steelers did, leading the Steelers to touchdowns on their final two possessions.
The first was an 11-yard strike to McDonald in the back of the end zone after Roethlisberger completed three big passes in a row to JuJu Smith-Schuster that netted 39 yards.
"When we were looking at the pictures, the farthest guy on the trips was the guy that was open the most," Roethlisberger said. "That was just the coverage they were playing. So I said, ‘Let’s get JuJu in a position to win. Let’s get him away from all of the traffic inside.’ That’s what he did."
Meanwhile, trailing 16-13 with 2:22 remaining in the game, the Steelers needed a stop. The defense did its job -- again.
The Steelers limited the Jaguars to no net yards in the fourth quarter after allowing 172 yards rushing on 37 carries in the first three quarters.
Leonard Fournette gained 6 yards on three carries, with the Steelers using just two timeouts and the two-minute warning to stop the clock.
That got Roethlisberger the ball back at his own 32 with 1:42 and one timeout remaining.
After a short pass to James Conner, Roethlisberger again found Smith-Schuster down the sideline, working against All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey, who had two interceptions.
That put the Steelers in field goal range to potentially tie the game. They went for the win.
Roethlisberger missed on a throw to Conner, then saw Conner drop a potential touchdown pass down the sideline, his second big drop of the game.
"When he got back in the huddle, he was going to go in the gutter and we didn’t let him," McDonald said of Conner. "We’ve got each other’s backs."
Roethlisberger and Brown did. On the next play, they connected on a pass over the middle that Brown took to the Jacksonville 2 with 23 seconds remaining.
After a Roethlisberger spike to stop the clock, he threw a pass intended for Ryan Switzer in the end zone that was intercepted by corner D.J. Hayden. Problem was, Hayden had yanked Switzer to the ground by his facemask before making the pick.
"He won. He was going to win. That’s why he got grabbed," Roethlisberger said of Switzer. "It was one of those ones where you know you’ve been beat that you take the penalty to avoid the touchdown. That’s the reason the guy made the play."
Hayden was then called for defensive holding in the end zone on the next play, moving the ball inside the 1. But it also left just eight seconds on the clock.
That's when this happened:
Roethlisberger saw the end zone and redemption for a game that won't be confused for one of his best -- unless it's the best comeback that is being talked about.
"That two-minute drive at the end, that was a crazy back-and-forth possession," McDonald said. "It’s one of those things that our defense played so well that we were able to put ourselves in position to go and win the game. It’s the trust that starts with 7, and it just trickles down. It’s one of those things you just can’t explain."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GAME BALLS
My top three performers:
1. JuJu Smith-Schuster
Steelers wide receiver
Smith-Schuster caught eight of the 10 targets thrown his way, including a big 35-yard gain during the game-winning drive that put the Steelers in position to win it. He finished with 104 receiving yards, with six of those catches for 88 yards coming in the fourth quarter.
2. Javon Hargrave
Steelers nose tackle
Hargrave didn't play much on the nose in the first half as the coaching staff was saving him for pass-rushing downs. Once the coaching staff figured out Daniel McCullers couldn't hold the point of attack, it went to Hargrave on a full-time basis. He responded with four tackles -- two for a loss -- two sacks, two hurries and a big batted pass on third down that ended a Jacksonville possession in the fourth quarter.
3. Ben Roethlisberger
Steelers quarterback
For most of three quarters, it looked as if Roethlisberger might be on his way to his worst game as a pro. But he finished the game with a touchdown run that capped off a 27-for-47 day with 314 yards passing and two TD passes. Yes, he threw three bad interceptions, but Roethlisberger had 248 passing yards in the final 16:17 of the game.
THE GOOD
Despite allowing a season-high 179 yards rushing, the Steelers defense was outstanding in the game.
They allowed 74 of those rushing yards in the first quarter and 141 in the first half. Noted Steelers killer Fournette -- who rushed for nearly 300 yards and five touchdowns in two wins over the Steelers in 2017 -- had 74 yards on 14 first-half carries himself.
But as the game wore on, things tightened up considerably.
"I thought he didn’t fall forward as much," Cam Heyward said of Fournette, who finished with 95 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. "We got more guys to the ball. We knew he wanted to cut back and get straight upfield, but we got more guys to him where he couldn’t just go again."
A big part of that were a couple of defensive changes the Steelers made. With Stephon Tuitt out with an elbow injury, the Steelers wanted to play Hargrave as a pass rusher in their sub packages. So they didn't use him in their base defense, playing McCullers on the nose.
That didn't work.
"That’s kind of what we were rolling with this week, me playing on third downs and him in there (in the base)," Hargrave told me.
That was scrapped and Hargrave basically played the entire second half. He did things like this, all day:
The Steelers also began using safety Jordan Dangerfield as a cornerback in place of Coty Sensabaugh, putting another sure tackler on the field against Jacksonville's run-heavy packages.
"That wasn’t an adjustment. We played him at corner when they had only one wideout in the game," Tomlin said. "We were making the same calls.”
Only they started working. Jacksonville finished the game with four consecutive three-and-outs on offense. And the defense recorded six sacks, limiting the Jaguars to 243 total yards, their fifth consecutive game holding an opponent under 300 yards.
THE BAD
As Roethlisberger said, this wasn't his best game. He wasn't alone. Conner struggled to get the running game going, finishing with nine carries for 25 yards. And he wasn't much of a factor in the passing game either, catching six passes for 24 yards with two big drops.
The Steelers managed just 26 yards on the ground as a team, with Roethlisberger adding one very important rushing yard.
"I would have been really mad if we would’ve lost the game, but I’ll catch the next one," Conner said of his drop in the closing minute.
That's what had Roethlisberger looking forward to the Steelers' game in Denver next Sunday.
"I told him thanks for dropping it because it gave me a touchdown," Roethlisberger said. "I gave him a smile and a laugh. He didn’t know how to take that. I said, ‘No, I’m serious.’ He laughed. James is one of those special football players. He can’t get down on himself. It will be an awesome test to see how he bounces back. I think he’ll be just fine."
THE PLAY
The Steelers offense didn't do much in the first three quarters. Roethlisberger had thrown for just 66 yards and they had less than 100 yards of offense when the Jaguars took a 16-0 lead on a two-yard touchdown run by Fournette with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter.
Then, David DeCastro was penalized for a false start to open their next possession. A short pass to Switzer got 6 yards back, making it second-and-nine. And then this happened:
Brown wasn't the first option on the play. He wasn't even the second option. But he made himself one.
"I was looking right. It was a no-huddle play. I was trying to get (McDonald) working the middle," Roethlisberger said. "AB and the backside guys were supposed to stay on their side of the field. When I looked at Vance, they kind of doubled him. I saw AB going to the middle of the field. I’m not sure why, but he did it and it worked. Good for us."
Good indeed.
Brown stopped and hunkered down to Roethlisberger's left, but when he saw the quarterback not having his main option open, he took off toward the middle of the field at an angle.
James Washington was on the outside on the other side and got tangled up with safety Barry Church. The pass initially looked as if it was intended for Washington. Then, Brown appeared as if from nowhere and beat Ramsey to the goal line.
"We kept saying, ‘Once we get on the board, everything is going to get going,'" safety Morgan Burnett told me. "Once we got that one touchdown, we were like, ‘OK, we’ve got a chance.’ This team showed a lot of grit. It was fun to be a part of."
THE CALL
There can be only one and it was Roethlisberger's decision to call his own number at the goal line. The play is broken down by Dejan Kovacevic in full right here.
THE OTHER SIDE
The Jaguars' loss was their sixth in a row, dropping them to 3-7 after a solid start. That led to a lot of questions in their locker room about whether their season is now over.
"There’s still a lot of life left," said defensive end Calais Campbell. "I don’t know if 9-7 will get us where we want to go. It might. It might not. We might need some help. It is what it is, but us getting there is the goal. If we do, I can live with that. These guys in the locker room believe. Nobody’s quitting and nobody’s giving up. Who I am and who we are is not going to change either. We are going to keep fighting. We don’t know what the future holds, but we’re going to keep fighting one play at a time. If we can go and play our best ball and find a way to a 9-7 record, hopefully that will be enough to get in. At the end of the day, this team is going to give everything they have. It’s hard to win six games in a row in this league, but it’s possible. ”
THE INJURY UPDATE
• Anthony Chickillo, linebacker, suffered an ankle injury late in the game for the Steelers and did not return. He told DKPittsburghSports.com afterward that he was "fine."
• Stephon Tuitt, defensive end, was held out of the game because of an elbow injury.
• Marcus Gilbert, right tackle, missed his fourth consecutive game with a knee injury.
THE SCHEDULE
The Steelers are off Monday. The next scheduled event is the Tomlin press conference Tuesday as the team begins preparations to travel to Denver. I'll have the coverage.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Steelers team page for everything from this game.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers at Jaguars, Jacksonville, Fla., Nov. 18, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY /