Nov 17, 2013 5 min read

PITTSBURGH – Nobody would own up to who said what, but the Steelers defensive backs got together as a group at halftime Sunday at a rain-soaked Heinz Field.

After being a large part of why Detroit put up a team-record 27 points in the second quarter, the defensive backs felt the need to remind each other of exactly what they needed to do and how they needed to do it.

The results were evident.

Pittsburgh shut out Detroit in the second half, turning a 27-20 halftime deficit around, thanks to four Ben Roethlisberger touchdown passes as the Steelers defeated the Lions, 37-27, before a sparse crowd of 57,905.

“That’s a satisfying victory,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “We were going to be tested, and that’s a good football team.”

The victory was Pittsburgh’s fourth in its past six games. More important, it improved the Steelers to 4-6 and moved them into a tie with Cleveland and Baltimore for second place in the AFC North and just one game out of the second AFC wildcard spot.

The Steelers aren’t scoreboard watching yet.

“We said coming in that we wanted to be 1-0 after this week,” said Roethlisberger, who threw for 367 yards and four touchdowns working almost exclusively out of a no-huddle offense.

“I don’t care what happened around the league because all we can control is what we can control.”

What the Steelers did Sunday was control a Detroit offense that dominated the game’s second quarter.

The Lions (6-4) came into the game leading the NFC North and, after falling behind 14-0 after a pair of Roethlisberger TD passes to Antonio Brown in the first quarter, quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Calvin Johnson put on a clinic.

Stafford threw for 267 yards in the second quarter, and Johnson had five receptions for 173 yards and two touchdowns as Detroit turned a 14-0 deficit into a 27-20 halftime lead.

Cornerback Ike Taylor had the tough job of covering Johnson throughout the game and he was beaten at times. But for three quarters, he held his own as Johnson finished with six catches for 179 yards, none of which came in the second half.

“Ike Taylor stood up,” said safety Will Allen. “Taylor had him man-to-man the whole game. Taylor came through.

“He got his hands on him and made it hard for him. … Taylor locked it down.”

Even with that, the Steelers needed some help from the Lions to win this one.

They got it early in the fourth quarter, trailing 27-23.

After Pittsburgh was stopped on three consecutive plays from the Detroit 1 in the third quarter and had to kick a field goal, the Lions got the ball back and drove to the Steelers’ 10.

On fourth-and-five, Detroit sent its field goal unit into the game. But the Lions ran a fake with a direct snap to holder Sam Martin, the team’s punter.

Martin gained three yards before being hit by defensive linemen Cam Heyward and Steve McLendon, fumbling the ball. Safety Ryan Clark fell on the loose football at the Pittsburgh 3.

“We thought we had a great chance to be able to score a touchdown there and not just get a field goal,” said Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz. “We didn’t make that one. We still had a chance. Our defense turned around and gave up 97 yards after that.”

The Steelers covered those 97 yards on 16 plays, finally scoring on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to fullback Will Johnson to take a 30-27 lead with 4:50 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Along the way, Roethlisberger completed a third-and-9 pass from his own 4 to Brown for 20 yards and a fourth-and-2 pass to running back Le’Veon Bell for three yards to keep the drive going.

“We’ve got a big-time wideout of our own,” said Tomlin of Brown, who finished with seven catches for 147 yards and two touchdowns. “We think he is capable of affecting the outcome of games, much like their guy.”

The Lions tried to get the ball to Johnson on the ensuing possession, but Allen, who was re-signed last month after being released by Dallas, was playing deep and undercut the route to make an interception at the Pittsburgh 39, returning it to the Detroit 34.

“It was a play I had seen when Detroit played Dallas,” said Allen. “Same formation, same everything. He rolled to his right and threw it to the receiver on the weak side. The safety in that game bit on the fake, and he threw it on the sideline.

“I played it deep and read the ball. The quarterback tried to make the play, and I just jumped it.”

Roethlisberger then threw his final TD pass, a 20-yarder to Jerricho Cotchery to ice the game.

“That was a good team victory,” said Roethlisberger. “Offense, defense, we were up, we were down. There was no quit in anybody.”

Odds and end zones

The Lions had just 72 yards in the second half, including 17 net yards passing. … The Steelers played without linebacker LaMarr Woodley, defensive end Brett Keisel and guard Ramon Foster. … Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders left in the second quarter with a foot injury. He did not return. … Tight end Heath Miller had eight catches for 67 yards and now has 5,021 yards for his career. He is just the sixth player in team history with 5,000 receiving yards.