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Photo: Wade Payne / Associated Press Running back Le'Veon Bell scores on a 5-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut the Steelers' deficit to 24-20 on the way to a three-point win over the Titans in Nashville, Tenn.
Running back Le'Veon Bell scores on a 5-yard run on the first play...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — This time, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat their struggling opponent.
Ben Roethlisberger threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown with 9:01 left, and the Steelers edged the Tennessee Titans 27-24 on Monday night.
After losing to the 1-8 Jets a week earlier, the Steelers (7-4) staged an impressive rally in the second half to take sole possession of second in the AFC North heading into their bye. Le’Veon Bell ran for 204 yards and a touchdown, William Gay returned an interception 28 yards for a score, and Shaun Suisham kicked two field goals.
“I think we’re only going to get stronger,” Bell said. “We’ve obviously still got to get better, work as a team. But we’re going to enjoy the week off. It’s well deserved, well needed. We’re going to enjoy it and get back to work when we need to.”
With Bell running through and over the Titans, the Steelers were able to hold the ball for 39 minutes, 49 seconds with a 386-312 edge in total offense.
“He got rolling, and we couldn’t make a play and that’s disappointing,” Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt said.
While the Titans (2-8) blew a 24-13 lead in their fourth straight loss, their defense did sack Roethlisberger five times and intercepted a pass in the end zone. Zach Mettenberger threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns, and fellow rookie Bishop Sankey ran for a score.
“We feel very close,” Mettenberger said. “We’re not doing enough to win football games. That’s the bottom line and the most important thing. But rookie running back, rookie left tackle, rookie quarterback, rookie middle linebacker. We’re doing a lot of good things.”
Before erasing a 10-0 deficit with an impressive flurry, Mettenberger and the Titans got off to an awful start. Suisham had a 49-yard field goal for Pittsburgh’s first score of the game, and Gay’s interception return for a touchdown came on Tennessee’s first offensive play.
Roethlisberger had thrown just five interceptions this season. But the Titans sacked him three times in the second quarter, and Jason McCourty picked off a pass in the end zone with 44 seconds left in the first half.
The Titans called timeout, and then Mettenberger threw to a wide-open Nate Washington, who beat Gay with a stutter-step on his way to an 80-yard touchdown reception.
Mettenberger added a 4-yard touchdown pass to Chase Coffman in the third for a 24-13 lead, but Bell’s 5-yard run for the Steelers to open the fourth quarter cut the lead to four.
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