National Football League
Pittsburgh 14, Cleveland 3
When: 8:20 PM ET, Thursday, December 8, 2011
Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Temperature: 31°
Head Official: Ed Hochuli
Attendance: 60754


Ben Roethlisberger fought off an ankle injury to pass for 280 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Pittsburgh Steelers topped the visiting Cleveland Browns 14-3 on Thursday.

Antonio Brown and Jerricho Cotchery each caught a touchdown pass and Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 76 yards for the Steelers (10-3), who moved ahead of the Baltimore Ravens (9-3) in the AFC North and the New England Patriots (9-3) and Houston Texans (9-3) for first place in the conference.

Roethlisberger went to the locker room on a cart in the second quarter after suffering the injury but X-rays came back negative. He opted to have the ankle re-taped and came back out to start the third quarter with a noticeable limp.

Clinging to a 7-3 lead and struggling to move the ball for much of the second half, Roethlisberger and Brown combined for the play of the game with 2:52 left to seal the victory. Roethlisberger found Brown on the right side with a short back-shoulder fade.

Brown beat his first defender and made three more miss as he took it inside and back to the sideline before racing to the end zone for a 79-yard score.

That came two plays after the Browns nearly took the lead, but Colt McCoy was intercepted by William Gay in the end zone.

The Steelers’ defense forced a pair of interceptions and has allowed a total of one touchdown in the past three games.

Peyton Hillis was held to 25 yards on 10 carries for Cleveland (4-9).

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Cleveland   Pittsburgh
Chris Ogbonnaya Player Rashard Mendenhall
2 Attempts 18
31 Yards 76
15.5 Avg Yards 4.2
0 Touchdowns 0
28 Long 15
Receiving
Cleveland   Pittsburgh
Evan Moore Player Antonio Brown
4 Receptions 5
55 Yards 151
13.8 Avg Yards 30.2
0 Touchdowns 1
33 Long 79
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Cleveland 304 98 206 0 1 1 2.0 2
Pittsburgh 416 147 269 2 0 2 3.0 1
Upcoming Games
  • Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against San Francisco. The Steelers have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
  • Cleveland will play their next game on the road against Arizona. The Browns have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.