Bell leads way as Pittsburgh beats Miami
Miami’s Michael Thomas (31) and Jelani Jenkins (53) can’t catch Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown as he is on his way to score a touchdown in the first quarter of Sunday’s AFC Wild Card game in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers’ Demarcus Ayers reacts after catching a pass for a first down Sunday against Miami.
A Pittsburgh Steelers fan holds a sign during the second half of an AFC wild-card NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Pittsburgh Sunday.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore gets sacked by Pittsburgh’s Lawrence Timmons in the second half Sunday. Timmons had two quarterbacks sacks in the game.
PITTSBURGH – As Steelers coach Mike Tomlin shook hands with players when they went into the locker room Sunday after Pittsburgh’s AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Miami Dolphins, he asked linebacker James Harrison a question.
Or perhaps it was a statement.
“See you tomorrow?” Tomlin said.
“Yep,” was Harrison’s simple reply.
The Steelers assured there would be a tomorrow that would not include cleaning out their lockers or starting to think about next season. Pittsburgh rode running back Le’Veon Bell’s record-breaking performance to a 30-12 win over the Dolphins at frozen, windy Heinz Field.
The win assured the Steelers (12-5) of at least one more Monday – an optional workout day for the players – and a trip to Kansas City for an AFC Divisional playoff game next Sunday (1 p.m. kickoff).
Miami (10-7), which had beaten the Steelers, 30-15, back Oct. 16 behind a 204-yard rushing effort by running back Jay Ajayi, couldn’t find its footing early in this game. And by the time the Dolphins did so, the Steelers had jumped out to a lead, scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions, two on catches by Antonio Brown and one on an 83-yard drive in which Bell had 10 carries for 78 yards.
Bell, playing in his first postseason game after sitting out the past two years because of injuries, set a Pittsburgh playoff record with 167 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. That broke Franco Harris’ mark of 158 set in Super Bowl IX in 1975 against Minnesota.
“I was definitely excited with it being the first playoff game that I’ve played in and it being a rematch with those guys,” said Bell. “They got after it the first time we played them. We wanted to go out there and make a statement. They ran the ball really well in the last game, so we wanted to run the ball on those guys, as well, and stop the run.”
Mission accomplished on both fronts.
Ajayi had four carries for one yard in the first quarter and finished with 33 yards on 16 attempts.
“The tone was set at the beginning of the game when we went out there,” said Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who tackled Ajayi on his first two carries for no gain and a loss of three yards.
By the time Ajayi got his fifth carry, the Steelers led, 20-3.
Ben Roethlisberger, who connected on his first 11 passes, threw a short screen to Brown on Pittsburgh’s opening possession. Brown picked up blocks from tight end Jesse James and receiver Cobi Hamilton to race untouched down the sideline for a 50-yard TD.
On the Steelers’ next possession, Brown caught pass over the middle, avoided a tackle by cornerback Tony Lippett and ran past safety Baccari Rambo up the middle of the field for a 62-yard TD catch, becoming the first Steelers player to catch two first-quarter scores in a playoff game.
“Those guys wanted to play us in a lot of man coverage and we were able to get some yards after the catch,” said Brown, who finished with five catches for 124 yards and two scores.
Miami kicked a field goal on its next possession to cut the lead to 14-3 before Bell took control of the game.
Bell carried the ball 10 times for 78 yards on Pittsburgh’s next possession, gaining all but five yards when Miami was penalized for being offside. He capped the possession with a one-yard touchdown run. Though Chris Boswell’s PAT was no good, the Steelers were in firm control, leading 20-3.
“We had the big three rolling on offense and we stopped the run on defense,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “We do those things, we have a chance to win games, regardless of circumstance, situation or opponent.”
After the early offensive fireworks, the defense made big plays.
Following a Roethlisberger interception on a high pass that skipped off the hands of Brown late in the first half, Miami threatened to get back into the game as quarterback Matt Moore completed a 37-yard pass to DeVante Parker to the Pittsburgh 8.
But on the next play, Harrison sacked Moore from behind, knocking the ball loose and it was recovered by defensive end Stephon Tuitt.
“A play is a play, especially when they get down to the end zone and we get a sack-strip,” said Tuitt. “Turnovers are huge.”
The Steelers would get two more from Moore in the second half as they sacked him four times, forcing another fumble. Linebacker Ryan Shazier added an interception in the third quarter, his third in as many games.
The five sacks matched the most by the Steelers in a playoff game since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.
“It looked like we were going to have a shot there near the half,” said Miami first-year head coach Adam Gase. “Then, we turned it over. I felt that we could maybe get going in the third quarter. We just couldn’t get enough together to get points.”
The Steelers turned the two second-half turnovers into 10 points – a 34-yard Chris Boswell field goal and a second Bell touchdown run, from eight yards.
By the time Moore finally got the Dolphins into the end zone with a 4-yard TD pass to running back Damien Williams with 6:02 remaining in the fourth quarter, the result had long been decided.
“We took it personal that they had smashed us the first time,” said Steelers safety Mike Mitchell. “We were going to smash them. If you look at what (Bell) did to them, it was kind of like perfect revenge. We smashed them in the run. Hats off to our offense and offensive line. We were able to have some success and (Bell) is the best running back in the league. It showed.”
Roethlisberger threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns but was intercepted twice. He was in a walking boot as a precaution following the game after slightly twisting his ankle but said there is no doubt he will play against the Chiefs. … Safety Sean Davis suffered a shoulder injury in the second half and did not return. … Pittsburgh’s win was its 35th in the postseason, breaking a tie with Dallas (34) for the most in NFL history. … The game-time temperature was 17 degrees, making it the sixth-coldest game in Steelers history and second-coldest at Heinz Field. … Brown became the first player since Ricky Sanders in 1988 to have two 50-plus yard TD catches in the first half of a playoff game. … Harrison shared a sack with Bud Dupree and has 10 in the postseason, one behind LaMarr Woodley for the team record. … Lawrence Timmons led the Steelers with 14 tackles and two sacks.