PITTSBURGH - Mike Tomlin said there was one fundamental adjustment that his Pittsburgh Steelers made between halves Sunday.

"We stopped kicking our own butt," the veteran coach said.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns - including a game-winning 23-yard strike to wide receiver Antonio Brown with 3:24 remaining - as the Steelers rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Denver Broncos 34-27 at Heinz Field.

Roethlisberger's second touchdown pass to Brown, who had 16 receptions for 189 yards, broke a 27-27 tie and gave the Steelers (9-5) their fifth win in six games. The score came three plays after Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier intercepted Brock Osweiler at the Broncos' 37-yard line.

With its 10th consecutive December win dating to 2013, Pittsburgh kept pace with the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets at the top of the AFC wild-card standings with two games left. The Steelers still have a slight chance to overtake the Cincinnati Bengals (11-3) for the AFC North title.

Roethlisberger completed 40 of 55 passes against the NFL's No. 1 defense in points (17.3 per game) and total yards (272.3) allowed. The Broncos had two interceptions, including a pick by linebacker Brandon Marshall with 2:08 left at the Steelers' 41.

The Broncos were unable to take advantage of the turnover as Osweiler threw four straight incomplete passes, giving the ball back to the Steelers on downs with 1:40 remaining.

Pittsburgh ran out the clock.

"Once we settled down, we played well," Shazier said. "All of us on the defense seemed like we were nervous at the start of the game. We were making mental mistakes and physical mistakes. We never really settled down until halftime and then we played the way we we're capable of playing."

Roethlisberger has averaged 365.8 yards passing over the last six games with 13 touchdowns. Brown has 64 catches for 868 yards in that same span.

"There's no stopping me," Brown said.

Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant added 10 receptions for 87 yards.

"They made plays in big situations," Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib said. "We needed to tackle better. Kudos to those boys."

Osweiler, subbing for injured quarterback Peyton Manning for the fifth straight game, threw three touchdowns passes and ran for another as the Broncos built a 27-10 lead in the second quarter.

However, Denver (10-4) failed to score in the second half and lost a second straight game to see its lead in the AFC West over the Chiefs trimmed to one game. The Broncos have been shut out in the second half of each of their last three games.

"I think there were some plays we should have made by a lot of people, not just the quarterback," Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. "I think we executed really well in the first half - where to go, here or there. I just don't think we executed the same way in the second half."

Osweiler was 21 of 44 passing for 296 yards and was intercepted once. In the second half, though, he was 7 of 26 for 82 yards. He injured his left - non-throwing - shoulder late in the second quarter and was briefly replaced by rookie quarterback Trevor Siemian before returning to the game.

Former Steelers receiver Emmanuel Sanders had 10 receptions for 181 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos, but nine of the catches came in the first half for 139 yards. Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas had two touchdown catches.

The Steelers started their comeback on kicker Josh Boswell's 41-yard field goal with four seconds to go in the first half.

The Steelers tied it on a pair of 9-yard touchdown passes from Roethlisberger in the second half. He connected with Brown with 7:16 left in the third quarter and wide receiver Markus Wheaton with 12:34 remaining in the fourth period.

Osweiler tied the score with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Thomas with 4:45 left in the first quarter. A little less than 90 seconds later, Sanders got behind the defense, which was blitzing Osweiler, and hauled in a 61-yard scoring pass to put the Broncos ahead 14-7.

Osweiler then ran 7 yards for a touchdown on third-and-goal to give the Broncos a two-touchdown lead with 11 1/2 minutes remaining in the second quarter. Kicker Brandon McManus missed the extra-point attempt at the end of the 10-play drive.

After a 24-yard field goal by Boswell, Osweiler and Thomas connected on a 6-yard score with 1:50 to go in the second quarter to put the Broncos up 27-10.

Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams had a 2-yard touchdown run 4:44 into the game to open the scoring in the home finale.

"We know that our fans bleed for us and we wanted to go out and give them a show and have fun doing it," Roethlisberger said. "I think they got their money's worth."

NOTES: Broncos FS Darian Stewart (hamstring) sat out after being listed as questionable Friday with a hamstring injury and was replaced in the starting lineup by S Josh Bush, who had an interception. ... Broncos WR Emmanuel Sanders has 11 100-yard receiving games in 29 games since signing as a free agent prior to last season after having none in four seasons and 56 games with the Steelers. ... The Steelers had 23 yards rushing on 17 attempts. ... Broncos CB Aqib Talib made eight solo stops.