National Football League
Pittsburgh 38, Green Bay 31
When: 4:25 PM ET, Sunday, December 22, 2013
Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Temperature: 23°
Head Official: Carl Cheffers
Attendance: 77999

Steelers 38, Packers 31: Rookie Le'Veon Bell rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown and Ben Roethlisberger passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another as visiting Pittsburgh held on to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.

Roethlisberger finished 16-of-28 for 167 yards with an interception and Antonio Brown caught six passes for 105 yards for the Steelers (7-8), who are a game behind Baltimore and Miami for the final AFC wild card going into the final week of the regular season. Pittsburgh squandered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before taking advantage of a Matt Flynn fumble to punch in the go-ahead score on Bell's 1-yard run with 1:25 to play.

Eddie Lacy rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns before leaving with an ankle injury for the Packers (7-7-1), who will visit Chicago next week with the winner capturing the NFC North title. Flynn was 21-of-39 for 232 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and he had a chance to redeem himself for his fumble but misfired on the final play to allow the Steelers to escape.

The Steelers seemingly survived Bell's fumble on their own 2 by stopping the Packers on the goal line and blocking Mason Crosby's field-goal attempt, but a controversial illegal batting penalty on the blocked kick prolonged the drive for Lacy's 2-yard TD run to give Green Bay a 21-17 lead with 5:19 left in the third quarter. The Packers couldn't maintain the momentum, though, as Roethlisberger's 11-yard TD pass to Matt Spaeth capped a 68-yard drive to regain the lead and Cortez Allen jumped in front of a Flynn pass and went 40 yards for a score 18 seconds later.

Crosby's 22-yard field goal and John Kuhn's 1-yard plunge pulled Green Bay even at 31 with 7:14 to play, but Flynn coughed up the ball trying to scramble for a first down to give the Steelers the ball on the 17 and Bell scored five plays later. The Packers drove to the 1 but were called for a false start - which resulted in a 10-second run-off - and Flynn's last pass was too high for Jarrett Boykin.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Roethlisberger's TD run was his first since Week 16 of the 2010 season. … Packers LB Clay Matthews left in the first half with a thumb injury. … Brown (101) joined Hines Ward as the only Pittsburgh players with 100 receptions in a season.

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Pittsburgh   Green Bay
Le'Veon Bell Player Eddie Lacy
26 Attempts 15
124 Yards 84
4.8 Avg Yards 5.6
1 Touchdowns 2
25 Long 14
Receiving
Pittsburgh   Green Bay
Antonio Brown Player James Jones
6 Receptions 9
105 Yards 84
17.5 Avg Yards 9.3
0 Touchdowns 0
36 Long 21
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Pittsburgh 343 151 192 5 1 1 3.0 1
Green Bay 370 151 219 4 1 1 1.0 1
Upcoming Games
  • Green Bay will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Packers have a W/L % of .571 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Pittsburgh will play their next game at home against Cleveland. The Steelers have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .333 after a loss.